The economy of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region grew 12.3 percent in 2010 to 50.7 billion yuan (7.7 billion U.S. dollars), the local statistics bureau chief said Tuesday.

That growth rate was two percentage points more than that for the whole country, said Liu Baicheng, director of Tibet Regional Statistics Bureau.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region expanded 79.5 percent over the past five years, Liu told a press briefing.

Last year, 6.85 million tourist arrived in Tibet, up 2.8 times over the last five years.

Tourism revenue in 2010 accounted for 14.1 percent of the region's GDP, compared with 7.8 percent in 2005.

The per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen in Tibet increased to 4,139 yuan in 2010 from 2,078 yuan in 2005.

The per capita disposable income of urban residents in the region jumped to 14,980 yuan in 2010 from 6,569 yuan in 2005.