Uzbekistan’s gross domestic product grew 9.8% in January-September 2007 compared with 7.3% in the same period last year, the government said.

In data released late on Tuesday, the government gave no inflation data but said price growth "did not exceed forecasts".

Data released by the government indicated industrial output grew 11.9% in January-September after rising 10.2% in the same year-ago period. Investment has risen 31.3% versus 10% in the first nine months of 2006, it said.

The Central Asian state of 27 million is a major producer of gold and cotton.