Foreign residents in Ferrara
Ferrara, in the province of Ferrara, is home to 128 Russians — 0.10% of its 129,081 residents. That is the 968th-highest concentration of Russians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 75th within Emilia-Romagna.
Across the nationalities we track, Ferrara counts 819 foreign residents in total, 0.63% of the population. The largest groups are Russians (128), French nationals (95), Brazilians (92).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Russians in Ferrara has fallen, from 133 to 128 (-4%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 14.0% of Ferrara's population was born outside Italy — 11.7% outside the EU and 2.3% elsewhere in the EU. ISTAT does not publish this broken down by specific country at comune level, so it isn't directly comparable to the per-nationality citizenship figures above.
Population over time
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 128 | 0.10% |
| France | 95 | 0.07% |
| Brazil | 92 | 0.07% |
| Spain | 81 | 0.06% |
| Greece | 71 | 0.06% |
| United Kingdom | 55 | 0.04% |
| Germany | 47 | 0.04% |
| United States | 46 | 0.04% |
| Venezuela | 37 | 0.03% |
| Portugal | 35 | 0.03% |
| Argentina | 31 | 0.02% |
| Mexico | 19 | 0.01% |
| Netherlands | 17 | 0.01% |
| Belgium | 13 | 0.01% |
| Japan | 13 | 0.01% |
| Austria | 9 | 0.01% |
| Ireland | 6 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 6 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 5 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 4 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 3 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 2 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 1 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 111,037 | 86.02% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 3,001 | 2.32% |
| Born outside the EU | 15,043 | 11.65% |
Russians over time
Quality of life in Ferrara
Full BES profile for Ferrara →Ferrara on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Ferrara is above the Ferrara average of €972/m². Averaged across 28 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
19.3 years of rent here equal the purchase price — below the national median of 22.2 years.
A ratio between two OMI prices, not a return on investment. It leaves out purchase taxes, IMU, maintenance, financing and the months a place sits empty — all of which push the real figure up. Useful for the question it does answer: whether this town looks expensive to buy relative to what renting in it costs.
Housing here in excellent condition costs 39% more than ordinary condition — €1,550/m² against €1,114.
That gap is what the market charges for a place you don’t have to work on. It is not what the work would cost you — OMI prices property, not builders.
A detached house here averages €1,334/m², against €1,114 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 20% more per square metre.
OMI prices “Ville e Villini” separately from the apartments every other figure on this page describes. Nationally a house costs about 14% more per square metre, but in 450 comuni it costs less — worth checking rather than assuming.