China's May electricity consumption growth slowed from April despite a year-on-year increase of 20.8 percent, indicated statistics released by National Energy Administration (NEA) Sunday.

Total electricity consumption reached 348 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in May, up 20.8 percent from a year ago, according to the statistics.

The year-on-year growth rate in May, however, dipped 2.3 percent from the April figure, indicating a slower expansion in electricity consumption. Electricity consumption jumped 23.1 percent from a year earlier to 339.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in April.

During the January-May period, electricity consumption amounted to 1,6575 trillion kWh, up 23.3 percent year on year, according to NEA statistics.

The January-May consumption by the agricultural industry grew to 35.8 billion kWh, up 7.1 percent from the same period last year.

Industrial use of electricity rose 26.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.2442 trillion kWh from January to May while the tertiary industry consumed 173.5 billion kWh in the period, up 17.2 percent year on year.

Electricity consumption by urban and rural households increased to 203.9 billion kWh in the first five months, up 15 percent year on year, according to the NEA.