Industry consumed less electricity for the first time in three years last month as slower export growth and high energy costs sapped demand.
Power sold to industrial users fell 0.1 percent in August compared with a year earlier, data released by the Federation of Power Companies showed Friday. That represents the first decline since July 2005.
Industrial users reduced factory operating rates after Japan's economy shrank at the fastest pace in seven years in the second quarter, partly because of a drop in exports. The Bank of Japan last month described growth as "sluggish," the first time it used the term in 10 years.