• Inflation perceptions
• Italy
• media
• Prospect theory

This study evaluates the perceived inflation in Italy, combining some key psychological mechanisms and economic theory. The Index of perceived inflation, suggested by Brachinger (2008), is applied to Italian data. For the first time in the economic literature the perceived inflation is compared between different Italian regions and geographical areas. The study highlights that geographical disparities in the perceived inflation between North and South of Italy are present and appear to be most pronounced at peaks and troughs. Small theoretical extension of Brachinger's Index of perceived inflation is presented, regarding the reference year change in the construction of the index. Last part of the paper examines the influence of the media on the consumers' perceptions.