BEIJING, Oct. 18 -- China's retail sales grew 14.1 percent year on year to 14.94 trillion yuan (2.37 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The total retail sales in September hit 1.82 trillion yuan, up 14.2 percent over the same period last year.

The growth rate in September was 1.46 percentage points higher than in August, the NBS said.

Urban consumption hit 1.56 trillion yuan in September, up 14.2 percent, while rural residents spent 265.4 billion yuan, up 14.7 percent.

The catering sector reported 207.2 billion yuan of revenues in September, up 13.9 percent year on year. While the retail goods trade was valued at 1.62 trillion yuan, up 14.3 percent.