旧西藏农牧业基本靠天吃饭、靠天养畜，如今农牧业现代化程度大幅提高。西藏第一产业增加值由1959年的1.28亿元增加到2010年的68.13亿元，年均增长4.8%。粮食产量由1959年的18.29万吨增加到2010年的92万吨；粮食平均亩产量由1959年的91公斤提高到2008年的357.4公斤；年末牲畜存栏数由1959年的956万头(只、匹)增加到2010年的2321万头(只、匹)。

　　和平解放前，西藏90%以上的人没有自己的住房，过着衣不蔽体、食不果腹的生活。60年来，西藏各族人民的生活条件不断改善，生活水平不断提高。1951年，西藏城镇居民人均居住面积不到3平方米；2010年末，西藏城镇居民人均居住面积达到34.72平方米。2006年开始，西藏实施以安居工程为突破口的社会主义新农村建设，先后使27.48万户、140.21万农牧民住上了安全适用的新房，人均居住面积增加到24平方米，实现了让全区所有住房条件较差的农牧民住上安居新房的目标。同时，西藏整体推进农牧区水、电、路、讯、气、广播电视、邮政和优美环境综合建设，农牧区面貌发生历史性变化。目前，乡镇通邮率、乡镇通公路率和行政村通公路率分别达到85.7%、99.7%、81.2%，累计解决153.2万农牧民的安全饮水问题，农牧区碘盐覆盖率达91.2%。2010年，西藏农牧民人均纯收入达到4138.7元，连续8年保持两位数增长，城镇居民可支配收入达到14980元。随着人民生活逐步富裕，消费结构开始多样化，冰箱、彩电、电脑、洗衣机、摩托车、手机等消费品进入了寻常百姓家。西藏每百户农村居民家庭拥有彩色电视机73.45台、移动电话52.64部、生活用汽车3.98辆，其中拉萨市每百户城镇居民家庭拥有家用电脑63台、移动电话182部、家用轿车32辆。广播、电视、通信、互联网等现代信息传递手段，与全国乃至世界同步发展，已经进入到人民群众的日常生活。

In the old days Tibet’s agriculture and animal husbandry were completely at the mercy of the weather. Nowadays, mod-ern facilities have been widely introduced. The added value of primary industry in Tibet increased from 128 million yuan in 1959 to 6.813 billion yuan in 2010, registering an average an-nual growth of 4.8 percent. Grain output rose from 182,900 tons in 1959 to 920,000 tons in 2010. Meanwhile the grain output per mu (15 mu equal one ha.) rose from 91 kg in 1959 to 357.4 kg in 2008, with the number of livestock rising from 9.56 million head in 1959 to 23.21 million head at the end of 2010.

Before the peaceful liberation, more than 90 percent of the people in Tibet had no private housing, nor had they enough food and clothing. But over the past 60 years the Tibetan people’s living conditions have constantly improved. In 1951 the per-capita housing of urban dwellers was less than three sq m, but the figure reached 34.72 at the end of 2010. Since 2006, with the construction of a new socialist countryside and comfortable housing project underway, 274,800 households, comprising 1.4021 million farmers and herdsmen, have moved into modern houses, and the per-capita housing space has increased to 24 sq m in rural areas. The aim of providing farmers and herdsmen living in poor conditions with comfortable houses has been realized. Tibet has also improved its facilities in the areas of water, electricity, highways, telecommunications, gas, radio and television, postal services and the environment in farming and pastoral areas, giving rise to historic changes in these areas. The coverage rate of postal services in townships, that of highways in townships, and that of highways in administrative villages have reached 85.7 percent, 99.7 percent and 81.2 percent, respec-tively. The region has provided safe drinking water for 1.532 million farmers and herdsmen, and iodized salt for 91.2 percent of the residents in farming and pastoral areas. In 2010 the per-capita net income of farmers and herdsmen was 4,138.7 yuan, registering a double-digit growth for eight consecutive years. The per-capita disposable income of urban dwellers stood at 14,980 yuan.Meanwhile, the consumption pattern of Tibetan residents is becoming more diversified with improvement in their livelihood, and such consumer goods as refrigerators, color TVs, computers, washing machines, motorcycles and mobile phones have got access to ordinary homes. A survey shows that for every 100 rural households there are 73.45 color TVs, 52.64 mobile phones and 3.98 private cars, and for every 100 urban house-holds in Lhasa, there are 63 PCs, 182 mobile phones and 32 private cars. Radio, television, the Internet and other modern means of information keep growing with progress in other parts of China and the rest of the world. They have become an integral part of people’s daily life in Tibet as well.