Voting has started in a key election in Italy with the most right-wing government since World War Two expected to take power in the eurozone's third-largest economy.

The Brothers of Italy party, headed by one-time Mussolini supporter Giorgia Meloni, has led opinion polls and looks set to take office in a coalition with the far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia parties.

Meloni, 45, who has campaigned on a motto of "God, country and family", hopes to become Italy's first female prime minister.

Even before they had opened at 7am local time, voters began queueing at polling stations.

"I'm playing to win, not just to take part," Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League, told reporters as he went to cast his ballot.

"I can't wait to come back from tomorrow as part of the government of this extraordinary country," he added.

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President Sergio Mattarella and Enrico Letta, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, also voted early Sunday. Polls close at 11pm.

Many voters are expected to pick Meloni, "the novelty, the only leader the Italians have not yet tried," Wolfango Piccoli of the Teneo consultancy said.

Brussels and the markets are watching closely, as Italy - a founding member of the European Union - looks poised to follow Sweden into a government including the far right.

If she wins, Meloni will face challenges from rampant inflation to an energy crisis as winter approaches, linked to the conflict in Ukraine.

The Italian economy, the third largest in the eurozone, rebounded after the pandemic but is saddled with a debt worth 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).