Cagliari is the leading city in Southern Italy and 39th in Italy, according to the 36th annual Il Sole 24 Ore quality of life survey . The Sardinian capital has risen five places since last year, while the island's other provinces are outside the top 70: Oristano is 72nd, Sassari 74th, Nuoro 78th, and Southern Sardinia 94th .
The gap between Northern and Southern Italy remains wide, despite Southern Italy's strengths in terms of demographics, climate, a significantly more affordable cost of living, and funding (including those from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan) that have helped boost businesses and GDP in these regions over the years. The survey captures well-being in Italian provinces using 90 indicators divided into six categories: wealth and consumption; business and labor; environment and services; demography, society, and health; justice and security; and culture and leisure.
Trento is the province with the best quality of life, followed by Bolzano and Udine. The North dominates the top ten, with Bologna fourth and Milan eighth, but also includes small provinces such as Bergamo (fifth, winner in 2024), Treviso (sixth, with a record increase of 18 places), Verona (seventh), Padua (ninth, returning to the top 10 after a 30-year absence), and Parma (tenth) .
The major metropolitan cities are rising: only two of the 14, Bari and Catania, have dropped in ranking compared to last year's survey, while Rome has gained 13 places compared to the 2024 edition, arriving at 46th . Genoa has risen 11 places to 43rd place, while Turin has risen one place to 57th. Florence remains stable at 36th place.
Reggio Calabria ranked last (107th) for the second consecutive year. Palermo is 94th, Naples 104th , ahead of only Crotone and Syracuse, as well as Reggio Calabria. The last 22 provinces are southern provinces , including Southern Sardinia.
The six-point rankings remain unchanged: Milan wins in Wealth and Consumption; Milan maintains its leadership in Business and Work; Brescia maintains its leadership in Environment and Services; Bologna is the leader in Demography, Health, and Society; Oristano leads the Justice and Security ranking; Trieste confirms its position as the best city for Culture and Leisure . A special mention goes to Siena, which wins the fifth edition of the Women's Quality of Life Index, a synthetic index based on 14 parameters (including the employment rate, female businesses, female business and local government directors, the share of female university graduates, the pay and employment gap, and inadequate numeracy and literacy skills) which is then incorporated into the overall ranking in the Demography, Health, and Society category.
***News in progress***
(Unioneonline/L)