TOKYO, June 19 (Kyodo) — Japan's industrial electricity demand in May fell 19.4 percent from a year earlier to 19,977 million kilowatt-hours for the eighth straight month of decline, an industry body said Friday.

But the margin of the year-on-year drop has become smaller since a 26.4 percent plunge in February, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in a preliminary report covering the 10 Japanese regional electricity utilities.

Electricity demand shrank in all seven key industries, with demand in the iron and steel sector diving 39.9 percent. Demand in the machinery sector, which includes automakers and digital consumer electronics makers, fell 24 percent.