Foreign residents in Giardini-Naxos
Giardini-Naxos, in the province of Messina, is home to 39 Russians — 0.42% of its 9,367 residents. That is the 57th-highest concentration of Russians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 1st within Sicilia.
Across the nationalities we track, Giardini-Naxos counts 151 foreign residents in total, 1.61% of the population. The largest groups are Russians (39), Germans (21), Brazilians (11).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Russians in Giardini-Naxos has risen, from 30 to 39 (+30%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 11.9% of Giardini-Naxos's population was born outside Italy — 7.5% outside the EU and 4.4% 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 | 39 | 0.42% |
| Germany | 21 | 0.22% |
| Brazil | 11 | 0.12% |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 0.11% |
| Sweden | 10 | 0.11% |
| France | 9 | 0.10% |
| Austria | 7 | 0.07% |
| Denmark | 6 | 0.06% |
| Venezuela | 6 | 0.06% |
| United States | 5 | 0.05% |
| Argentina | 4 | 0.04% |
| Belgium | 4 | 0.04% |
| Finland | 4 | 0.04% |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0.03% |
| Spain | 3 | 0.03% |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0.03% |
| Japan | 2 | 0.02% |
| Mexico | 2 | 0.02% |
| Ireland | 1 | 0.01% |
| Portugal | 1 | 0.01% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 8,250 | 88.08% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 414 | 4.42% |
| Born outside the EU | 703 | 7.51% |
Russians over time
Quality of life in Messina
Full BES profile for Messina →Messina on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Tax regimes
Giardini-Naxos qualifies for the 7% pensioner regime. Comfortably below the 30,000-resident ceiling.
Qualifying is about the town. Whether it applies to you depends on criteria no map can check — where you were tax-resident before, and where your income comes from.
How the 7% pensioner regime works, and every qualifying comune →Property prices
Buying in Giardini-Naxos is well above the Messina average of €941/m². Averaged across 2 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
27 years of rent here equal the purchase price — above 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.
A detached house here averages €1,975/m², against €1,713 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 17% 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.