Cost of Living in Italy

Rent comes first

In 2025, 18.1% of Italian households, about 4.8 million, rented their home. They paid an average of €438 a month, up 3.6% from €423 in 2024, according to ISTAT's household budget survey. In the central cities of the metropolitan areas, 27.3% of households rent and pay an average of €480. These averages cover all current leases, old and new.

Rents on new contracts are higher. The property market observatory (OMI) of the Agenzia delle Entrate counted 409,986 new free-market long-term leases in 2025, at an average of €81.50 per m² a year, or about €579 a month per home. In the 788 high-demand municipalities, which include every provincial capital, the average was €102.40 per m² a year, and €130.10 in the North-west. Rents in the South and the Islands were about half the North-west level.

Prices and inflation

Italy is close to the EU average on price levels. Eurostat put household consumption prices at 98 in 2025, with the EU at 100. Food was at 101.1, housing and energy at 91.4 and restaurants at 110.8.

Inflation has jumped in 2026. ISTAT's preliminary estimate for October 2026 puts consumer prices (NIC) 5.4% higher than a year earlier, up from 4.2% in September. The harmonized EU measure (HICP) was 5.6%. Energy drove the rise: energy prices were up 31.4%, and regulated energy 59.5%. Without energy and unprocessed food, inflation was 2.0%. The grocery basket rose 2.5%. For all of 2025, HICP inflation was 1.6%.

What households spend

Italian households spent an average of €2,782.36 a month in 2025, 1.0% more than in 2024. The median was €2,337.57. Housing, water and energy take 36.0% of spending, but most of that is the imputed rent of owners who live in their own home (€611.44 a month on average). The rest, about €389.36, covers rent actually paid, bills, maintenance and renovation work. Spending in the North-east (€3,086.67) and Centre (€3,052.18) was about 39% and 38% above the South (€2,215.48). A single person spent €2,070.43 a month and a household of 4 €3,582.58.

Transport, energy and housing costs

Households spent €294.06 a month on transport in 2025, 10.6% of the total. Transport prices were at 95.8 against the EU average of 100. Public transport fares are set locally, so this page shows no national fare. In Rome, see our cost of living in Rome page. Electricity and gas sit inside the housing line of the survey; in October 2026 regulated energy prices were 59.5% above a year earlier. Housing costs weigh on fewer people in Italy than across the EU on average: in 2025, 5.0% of people lived in a household spending more than 40% of disposable income on housing, against 7.6% in the EU. Income tax also has regional and municipal surcharges, which depend on where the employee lives.

What it means for pay and hiring

Eurostat puts the average full-time adjusted salary in Italy at €33,523 in 2024, about €2,794 a month gross. The average rent paid by renting households, €438, is about 16% of that figure; the average new free-market lease, about €579, is about 21%. Candidates moving to a northern city or Rome face higher rents than the national average, and energy prices have risen sharply in 2026. Italy has no statutory minimum wage, so check the collective agreement (CCNL) for the role. See average salary in Italy, our guide to hiring in Italy for employer costs, and the Rome city guide.

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