Photo shows the table of Tibet's total imports and exports from 2005 to 2008.

Tibet handled total imports and exports worth 401 million U.S. dollars in 2009, a plunge of 47.67 percent year on year, according to Tibet's Commerce Department.

The plunge is due largely to the impact of the global financial crisis, Ma Xiangcun, director of the department said, noting that Tibet reported 150 million U.S. dollars of imports and exports in general trade, with a year-on-year plummet of 71.13 percent.

Meanwhile, the export of home-made products grew steadily last year to reach 25.6 million U.S. dollars.

The total import and export of border trade hit 249 million U.S. dollars, up 3.87 percent over 2008.