Electricity consumed by South Korea's industrial sector grew from a year earlier last month as exports rose, government figures showed Tuesday.
   
Electricity use by the industrial sector amounted to 23.06 billion kilowatt-hours in October, up 2.8 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
   
Industrial electricity sales serve as a barometer of industrial activity as companies use more electricity when business is good and cut back when demand is low.
   
"Industrial electricity sales gained 2.8 percent on-year as the use of electricity by the steel, chemical, machinery and shipbuilding sectors expanded on growing exports," the ministry said in a press release.
   
The ministry earlier said the country's overall exports rose 2.5 percent on-year to a new monthly high of US$51.76 billion in October.
   
Overall electricity sales gained 2.3 percent on-year to about 37.83 billion kilowatt-hours in October.
   
Electricity consumption by households inched down 0.1 percent on-year while electricity used by commercial buildings rose 2.3 percent. (Yonhap)