Tibet's economy grew 11.4 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters thanks to rapid growth infixed-asset investment and retail sales, local statistics bureau said Saturday.

The gross domestic product amounted to 30.6 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) in the first nine months. The GDP growth rate is 3.7 percentage points higher than the national average rate of 7.7 percent.

During the first nine months, investment in fixed-asset surged 33.7 percent annually to 27.6 billion yuan. Retail sales rose 23.9percent to 11.3 billion yuan and industrial output jumped 12 percent to 2 billion yuan.

The per capita disposal income of urban households increased by8.5 percent to 10,246 yuan, while the cash income of each farmer or herdsman went up by 15.5 percent to 2,312 yuan.

The southwestern autonomous region received 4.8 million domestic and overseas tourists during the period, an increase of 180 percent from the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2009)