In a 2024 living cost comparison, Aosta is the most expensive city to live in Italy, while Naples is the cheapest, according to Codacons.
Codacons compared prices of goods and services across major Italian cities using data from the Mimit price observatory. It found food shopping is cheapest in Catanzaro, whereas Bolzano has the priciest food and drink trolley. This analysis covered a wide range of items, from fruits and vegetables to meat, and services from public establishments to dentists and hairdressers, to compile a cost-of-living ranking for Italy.
“If we consider the entire basket of goods and services, Aosta has the highest overall costs, totalling nearly €573 for the considered items and services,” explains Codacons. “Milan comes in second, with a cost of around €565.30, followed closely by Bolzano at €564.60.”
Naples is the city with the lowest cost of living, where the same goods and services amount to €363, followed by Palermo at €392.70. “In [this living cost] comparison, life in Aosta is on average 57.8% more expensive than in Naples,” notes Codacons.
The picture shifts when focusing solely on the food shopping cart. For a selection of 28 consumer products, including fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, pasta, bread, drinks, and canned goods, the highest expenditure is in Bolzano, with over €208 per receipt. Trieste follows with €206, and Milan with €203.60, against a national average of about €187. Catanzaro offers the least expensive food cart, costing €156.50 for the same items.
