The slight fall is attributed to a recent decline in the prices of some groups of commodities, including vegetables, gas and petroleum, electricity, housing and construction materials.

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

The import and export values of Hanoi increased slightly in the month. The export value climbed to US$928 million, up 3% from the previous month and 2.1% from the same period last year. The year’s export value posted at US$10.61 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.3%.

The month’s import value was US$2.41 billion, up 0.8% and 2.4%, respectively. The year’s import value was US$24.83 billion, falling 3.9% from the same period last year.

Several goods saw a major drop in import value, including petroleum and oil (22.5%), fertilizer (13.8%), and chemicals (14.3%).

Also in December, Hanoi welcomed 254,000 foreign tourists, up 2.4% from the previous month and 3.6% from the same period last year. The number of domestic visitors was 807,000, up 1.8% and 8.1%, respectively. The city’s tourism sector earned nearly VND4.79 trillion (US$210.6 million), up 12% and 10.7%.

In 2016, the city accommodated 2.8 million international tourists and 9.24 million domestic visitors, year-on-year increases of 19.9% and 4.3%, respectively, generating over VND55.1 trillion (US$2.42 billion), up 10.6%.