LHASA - The economy of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region grew 12 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to new official data.

The growth rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than in the same period last year and 4.3 percentage points higher than the country's average, said the regional statistics bureau on Monday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Tibet reached 57.57 billion yuan ($9.36 billion) in the first nine months, it added.

The per-capita cash income of farmers and herdsmen in the region hit 4,244 yuan in the same period, up 14.8 percent year on year. The per-capita disposable income of urban residents increased 12.6 percent year on year to reach 14,525 yuan.

Some 10.85 million tourists went to the plateau region from January to September, an increase of 20.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the bureau.

Meanwhile, Tibet's tourism revenue surged 28.5 percent year on year to 13.25 billion yuan in the nine-month period.

China's GDP growth in the first nine months stood at 7.7 percent, in line with market expectations and above the government's full-year target of 7.5 percent.

Tibet's GDP has maintained double-digit growth annually for the past 20 years.