The December consumer price index (CPI) in Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi is expected to fall slightly, said the municipal statistics office on Tuesday.

The slight fall is attributed to a recent decline in the prices of some commodities, including vegetables, gas and petroleum, electricity, housing and construction materials, Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA quoted the office as saying.

An upturn was seen in food, particularly rice price, because a huge amount of rice is mobilized for the country's flood-hit central provinces.

Regarding trade revenue, the office said Hanoi's export value in 2016 reached 10.61 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 percent while the city spent 24.83 billion dollars on imports, falling 3.9 percent from the same period last year.

Several goods saw a major drop in import value, including petroleum and oil (down 22.5 percent year-on-year), fertilizer (13.8 percent), and chemicals (14.3 percent).

Meanwhile, Hanoi welcomed 2.8 million international tourists and 9.24 million domestic visitors this year, posting year-on-year increases of 19.9 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, generating over 55.1 trillion Vietnamese dong (2.42 billion dollars) in revenue, up 10.6 percent on year.