A comfortable retirement works out cheaper in Greece — around £2,300/month for a couple, versus £2,700 in Italy (about 15% more).
Cost of living, side by side
| Greece | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Modest (couple/mo) | £1,600 | £1,900 |
| Comfortable (couple/mo) | £2,300 | £2,700 |
| Premium (couple/mo) | £3,700 | £4,300 |
Indicative monthly estimates for a couple — real costs vary by location, lifestyle and exchange rates.
Greece: Foreigners can buy property freely in Greece.
Italy: Foreigners can buy property freely in Italy.
Greece: Residency-by-investment and other routes attract retirees; passive-income options exist.
Italy: The elective residence visa suits retirees with stable passive income.
Greece: Greece's public ESY system covers residents (retirees often via a UK S1 form), and private care is high-quality, affordable and frequently English-speaking, with the best hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki; many expats buy private cover for roughly £80-250 a month depending on age.
Italy: Italy's public health service (SSN) is well regarded and low-cost; retirees on an elective-residence visa register voluntarily for a means-tested annual fee starting around EUR 2,000 (capped near EUR 2,800 for higher incomes), or use comparatively affordable private cover. Facilities are generally strongest in the north and larger cities.
Greece: A retiree who moves tax residence to Greece can elect a flat 7% tax on all foreign income, including pensions, for up to 15 years (you must not have been Greek-resident for five of the prior six years and must spend 183+ days a year there); otherwise standard progressive rates apply, so take advice.
Italy: As a resident you are taxed on worldwide income including foreign pensions at progressive rates, but retirees moving to a small town (population under 30,000) in the eight southern regions can elect a flat 7% tax on all foreign income for up to ten years. UK government-service pensions are usually taxed only in the UK under the double-tax treaty, so take advice.
Greece: Classic Mediterranean with hot dry summers and mild winters, the islands and south being warmest; late spring and early autumn are the loveliest months. Greece is very safe and famously welcoming; English is widely spoken in tourist and expat areas, driving is on the right, and the relaxed pace suits many British retirees.
Italy: Warm Mediterranean summers and mild winters in the south and along the coasts, with colder, wetter winters and hot summers inland and up north. Spring and autumn (April-June and September-October) are the most pleasant times. Italy is safe with a relaxed pace, though petty theft occurs in tourist cities; they drive on the right, and while English is common in cities and tourist areas, some Italian makes daily life far easier in smaller towns.
Greece: Budget around 5-8% in one-off costs, a 3.09% transfer tax on resale homes (new builds may carry 24% VAT, currently suspended), notary about 1-2%, land registry near 0.5%, plus legal and agent fees; buying typically takes one to three months.
Italy: Registration tax is 9% for a second home or 2% for a main residence, charged on the property's cadastral value which is usually well below the market price (new-builds carry VAT of 10% instead), plus notary fees and agent commission of around 3% plus VAT. Completion typically takes two to three months.
Greece: Crete for a large island with hospitals, airports and year-round life, Peloponnese towns like Kalamata for value and nature, Athens for the best services and flights, and islands such as Rhodes or Corfu for classic island living.
Italy: Puglia and Abruzzo for affordable, sunny southern living and the 7% flat-tax towns; Tuscany and Umbria for classic rolling countryside; the northern lakes such as Como for scenery; and Liguria for a milder coastal base.
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