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FOOD AND DRINK

How the price of an espresso varies around Italy

Drinking a coffee at the bar counter is a morning ritual that many Italians can’t go without. But some pay a higher price for it than others, depending on where in the country they are.

Published: 12 January 2024 11:09 CET
Coffee, Italy
Espresso being brewed in a bar in central Rome. Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP

Italians are generally known to be ‘creatures of habit’ and, as far as daily routines go, there truly may not be a more quintessentially Italian morning ritual than drinking a coffee at the local bar’s counter while casually flicking through the pages of the latest Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. 

READ ALSO: Where, when and how to drink coffee like an Italian

But, while this time-honoured practice is equally popular around the peninsula, some pay a higher price for it than others as an espresso in a northern city may cost you nearly half a euro more than in a southern town.

According to a survey from consumer group Assoutenti, the most expensive espressos (or espressi, as grammar purists would have it) can all be found in the north of the country, with Bolzano holding the title of priciest Italian city for coffee – an espresso shot in the South Tyrol city comes at an average of 1.34 euros. 

The top five is completed by Trento (1.31 euros), Belluno (1.28), Padua (1.27) and Udine (1.26). 

Surprisingly, Milan – one of the Italian cities with the highest living costs – is only the 38th-most expensive city as an espresso in the northern capital costs 1.14 euros on average. 

Coffee, Italy

A cup of espresso at the Gran Caffe Gambrinus in Naples, Italy. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

And even Venice, where a coffee alone may cost as much as three to four euros if consumed at one of the bars overlooking St Mark’s Square, doesn’t rank as high up as you might expect. 

In fact, Veneto’s capital is the 23rd-most expensive city when it comes to coffee with an average price of 1.19.

That said, getting an espresso in the lagoon is still nearly 25 cents pricier than in Messina, Sicily, which holds the crown of cheapest Italian city for coffee with an average price of 95 cents.

But bargain hunters will also want to head to Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria (both have an average price of 99 cents), Avellino (1.02) and Siracusa (1.02). 

Naples, which is revered by many as Italy’s “city of coffee” due to its high-quality brew, is the 6th-cheapest city, with an average price of 1.03.

READ ALSO: How Italy came to be Europe’s coffee capital

Finally, Rome comes in 8th as a drinking an espresso in the capital costs an average of 1.06 euros.

These are average prices for a coffee ordered and drunk at the bar, not at a table, where it often costs more.

Here’s a list of Italy’s major cities ranked by average espresso prices (highest to lowest):

Bolzano 1,34 
Trento 1,31 
Belluno 1,28 
Padua 1,27
Udine 1,26 
Trieste 1,25 
Cuneo 1,24
Ravenna 1,24
Rimini 1,24
Ferrara 1,24
Vicenza 1,24 
Turin 1,23
Rovigo 1,23
Pordenone 1,23
Pescara 1,22
Mantova 1,22
Bologna 1,22 
Treviso 1,21 
Modena 1,21 
Cosenza 1,20
Piacenza 1,20
Gorizia 1,20 
Venezia 1,19
Alessandria 1,18 
Forlì 1,18
Biella 1,18 
Macerata 1,18 
Sassari 1,18
Reggio Emilia 1,18 
Palermo 1,17 
Lecco 1,17
Brescia 1,17 
Ascoli Piceno 1,16 
Pistoia 1,16 
Florence 1,16 
Arezzo 1,15 
Verona 1,15 
Bergamo 1,14 
Milan 1,14 
Vercelli 1,14 
Siena 1,14 
Cremona 1,14 
Lucca 1,14
Perugia 1,13 
Lodi 1,13 
Novara 1,13
Genoa 1,12
Terni 1,10 
Cagliari 1,10
Varese 1,09
Grosseto 1,08
Livorno 1,08
Aosta 1,08 
Rome 1,06 
Bari 1,04 
Napoli 1,03
Siracusa 1,02
Avellino 1,02 
Catanzaro 0,99 
Reggio Calabria 0,99
Messina 0,95

Do you agree with these findings? How much does an espresso cost in your part of Italy? Let us know in the comments section below.

Member comments

  1. I was taught:
    “Un espresso” €5
    “Buon giorno! Un espresso, per favore” €3
    “Buon giorno! Come sta? (or come stai if you’re a regular) Un espresso, per favore” €1

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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