Codacons: Milan is Italy’s most expensive city. Food and services cost 42% more than in Naples

Perhaps no survey is needed to realise that Milan is Italy’s most expensive city, but what is surprising is the gap compared with other urban centres.

In Milan, 693 euros per month

But let us take things in order: in 2026 too, the Milanese provincial capital confirms its unenviable position both for the purchase of goods and for services.

This is stated by Codacons , which, as it does every year, published in recent days its survey of retail prices in force in the main cities of our country.

The association’s analysis, based on data from the Price Observatory Mimit, updated to June, examines a basket comprising 33 items, including 20 food products and 13 types of service: from bars to hairdressers, as well as pizzerias, vets, dentists, cinemas…

To purchase this set of items, Milan requires a total of almost 693 euros per month, followed by Bolzano at 652, then Aosta and Bologna, at just over 640 euros.

In Naples, the basket costs 402 euros

Naples is the cheapest: here, the expenditure amounts to approximately 402 euros, while it is 464 euros in Palermo and 474 in Catanzaro. In short, living in the Neapolitan metropolis costs 42% less than in Milan.

In Naples, people spend 291 fewer

To purchase the fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and other foodstuffs included in the basket under examination, the cost is just over 200 euros in as many as 6 cities (Milan, Bolzano, Trieste, Bologna, Genoa and Florence), but falls to approximately 170 euros in Bari and Palermo, and drops to 154 in Pescara, 149 euros in Catanzaro, and 140 again in Naples.

For the services under scrutiny (dentist, hairdresser, pizzerias, bars, cars, pets etc.), the gap becomes more pronounced: 491 euros are needed beneath the Madonnina, while 452 euros are paid in Aosta and Bolzano, compared with 292 in Palermo and 262 euros in Naples.

The two Italies of prices

“The picture that emerges – explains Codacons – is that of an Italy split in two when it comes to retail prices, with the cities of the south clearly proving much more affordable in terms of expenditure than the provinces of the north”.

The association’s price survey also reveals that the fresh bread with the highest price among the cities monitored is sold in Bolzano, where it has an average price of 7,16 euros per kg, while the most expensive cured ham is in Florence: an average of 41,2 euros per kg.

The most expensive courgettes are bought in Trieste (2,98 euros per kg), which also tops the rankings for a women’s haircut (more than 33 euros).

For washing the car, the cost ranges from a minimum of 8,50 euros in Ancona to a maximum of 21 euros in Bolzano, while, if you need a dentist for a filling, it is best to live in Palermo, where 71 euros are enough, compared with 176 in Aosta.

For a pizza, it is better to sit at the tables in Catanzaro, where the average cost of a meal in a pizzeria is 10,35 euros, compared with almost 15 euros in Bolzano, but if you want to go to the cinema, the advice is to go to Bari, where the ticket costs 7,3 euros, avoiding Bologna (11,5 euros).

Codacons’ analysis also examines expenditure on pets, another item that affects the budgets of millions of Italian families: for a vaccination service at a vet, the standard fee ranges from a minimum of 29,5 euros in Naples to a maximum of 63 euros in Milan, while dog grooming costs approximately 24 euros in Bari and Catanzaro and almost 50 euros in Aosta.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.