Italy: Potenza, Genoa and Venice see sharpest annual price rises

Rome, 13 June (AKI) - The cost of living rose the most over the past year in the southern city of Potenza, the northwestern port city of Genoa and the northeastern lagoon city of Venice, according to Italy's central statistics office Istat.

Between May 2011 and the same month this year, prices climbed 5 percent in Potenza - the Calabrian regional capital - 3.9 percent in Genoa and 3.8 percent in Venice, Istat said Wednesday.

Prices rose the least in the Tuscan capital Florence (2.7 percent) and the Umbrian capital Perugia, the Sicilian capital Palermo and the southern city of Naples, where the cost of living rose 2.8 percent, Istat said.