BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, surpassed the 1-trillion-kilowatt-hours mark in July, according to the National Energy Administration on Thursday.

Power use hit 1.02 trillion kilowatt-hours in July, representing an 8.6-percent increase from the same period last year, driven by a combination of multiple rounds of heat waves and steady industrial activity.

In July, power consumed by the primary and secondary industries rose 20.2 percent and 4.7 percent year on year to 17 billion kilowatt-hours and 593.6 billion kilowatt-hours, respectively, and power consumed by the tertiary sector increased 10.7 percent to 208.1 billion kilowatt-hours.

The electricity consumption of the country's residents also saw strong growth last month due to prolonged high temperatures and humidity, with total power use reaching 203.9 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.

From January to July, China's total power use climbed 4.5 percent year on year to over 5.86 trillion kilowatt-hours.