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Trieste: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Trieste

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Localita' Santa Croce 1, Trieste.

Trieste, an Adriatic port with a Habsburg past

For centuries Trieste belonged to the Habsburg lands, and from the eighteenth century it was their great port on the Adriatic. The city still shows it: neoclassical and Art Nouveau buildings in the centre, historic coffee houses, Piazza Unità d'Italia opening onto the sea and Miramare Castle along the coast. Behind the city rises the Carso (Karst), the limestone plateau that separates it from Slovenia, and the bora wind is part of daily life. Today Trieste is also a centre for scientific research, with its university and several international institutes.

Buyers here will come across the land book (libro fondiario): as in other formerly Austrian areas, ownership is recorded under the tavolare land registry system. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) nonetheless publishes cadastral maps for the municipality, so the report can trace the sheet and parcel numbers (foglio and particella) from the address, just as elsewhere in Italy.

The former province of Trieste is tiny, just 6 municipalities, and the city holds 87.1% of its inhabitants: 198,843 residents at the end of 2023, 1.6% fewer than in 2011. The population is older, with an estimated average age of 48.6 and 28.3% of residents over 65, above the Friuli-Venezia Giulia figure of 27.2%; households are small, at 1.88 people on average. Foreign nationals make up 12%.

All 6 municipalities are in seismic zone 3, the second-lowest of four classes, and expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.113 g, a moderate value, so in nineteenth-century palazzi and post-war blocks it is still worth asking about the condition of the structure. The services data list 147 healthcare facilities, 151 schools, 201 sports facilities and 1,078 bars and restaurants. A city built in terraces between the sea and the plateau has slopes that make landslide hazard differ from street to street, and flood hazard near the coast varies too: the report checks both at the address and gives prices as a range for the zone.

Key points

  • 198,843 residents, 87.1% of the provincial area's population.
  • Tavolare land registry, but with Revenue Agency maps: plot found from the address.
  • All 6 municipalities in seismic zone 3; about 0.113 g in Trieste.
  • Small households: 1.88 people on average.

Overview

Trieste is the capital of the province of Trieste, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. At the end of 2023 it had 198,843 residents, the most populous municipality in the province. 87% of the province's residents live here.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Trieste is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. All 6 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.113 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 1.6%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 12.0% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Trieste declared an average taxable income of 27,438 euros, in line with the province (27,409 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Trieste is in climate zone E, with 2,102 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 2 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Trieste has 151 schools and 61 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 83 grocery shops and supermarkets, 147 healthcare facilities, 201 sports facilities and 41 parks and green areas.

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 32.6% of the land in Trieste, compared with 20.8% in the province and 8.1% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 3.3 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Trieste is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2024. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list 44 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Trieste, and 73 more have been cleaned up or closed. The report tells you whether one is close to the address.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Trieste: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

Trieste uses the tavolare (land book) system, but the Revenue Agency still publishes the maps: the report finds the building's parcel, that is its sheet and parcel number, starting from the address.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 989 inhabited census areas in Trieste. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 77 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.0%
  • fair 6.0%
  • good 53.5%
  • very good 38.0%
  • excellent 2.4%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 032006. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.