National averages say very little about food: an espresso at the bar in Naples and one seated in a Venice square are the same product at incomparable prices. Here the regional difference is not a detail, it is the point.
Espresso is the product that measures Italy's regional differences best: essentially identical everywhere, subject to no regulated price, and with nearly forty cents between the most expensive province and the cheapest.
Verified on Jul 2026 · 2 sources
Because the price of a cup is almost entirely the cost of running the bar rather than the cost of the coffee itself, which amounts to a few cents. What changes from province to province is commercial rent, labour cost, the average purchasing power of customers, and how many bars compete on the same street. Bolzano, at EUR 1.47 in August 2025, has the highest incomes and property costs in Italy. Messina and Reggio Calabria, at EUR 1.06, sit at the opposite end on both counts.
An espresso at an Italian bar