With the development of economy, the life of the Tibetan people has shown impressive improvements. In 2004, Tibet ranked second among the 12 provinces, autonomous regions and one municipality directly under the Central Government in terms of disposable income of urban residents in Tibet, reaching 8057.96 Yuan, an increase of 3.8 percent over the previous year. More durable goods have entered the lives of ordinary families. A case in point is that Lhasa has 35,000 private cars, averaging one for every 12 people; and 330,000 mobile phone subscribers, a figure which is close to 60,000 subscribers more than home phone subscribers.

2004 Ranking of the 12 Provinces, Autonomous Regions and Municipality Directly Under the Central Government in Terms of Disposable Income of Urban Residents

2004 Ranking	Area	Disposable Income of Urban Residents in 2004
First	Chongqing City	8093.67 Yuan
Second	Tibet Autonomous Region	8057.96 Yuan
Third	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	7785 Yuan
Fourth to 12th	Yunnan Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, Guizhou Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region