Foreign residents in Lecce
Lecce, in the province of Lecce, is home to 253 Brazilians — 0.27% of its 94,187 residents. That is the 266th-highest concentration of Brazilians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 1st within Puglia.
Across the nationalities we track, Lecce counts 795 foreign residents in total, 0.84% of the population. The largest groups are Brazilians (253), Russians (63), Spaniards (61).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Brazilians in Lecce has fallen, from 276 to 253 (-8%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 10.5% of Lecce's population was born outside Italy — 8.6% outside the EU and 1.9% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 253 | 0.27% |
| Russia | 63 | 0.07% |
| Spain | 61 | 0.06% |
| United States | 59 | 0.06% |
| France | 58 | 0.06% |
| United Kingdom | 58 | 0.06% |
| Germany | 50 | 0.05% |
| Greece | 38 | 0.04% |
| Argentina | 26 | 0.03% |
| Belgium | 21 | 0.02% |
| Venezuela | 20 | 0.02% |
| Portugal | 11 | 0.01% |
| Mexico | 10 | 0.01% |
| Canada | 9 | 0.01% |
| Ireland | 9 | 0.01% |
| Austria | 8 | 0.01% |
| Netherlands | 8 | 0.01% |
| Sweden | 8 | 0.01% |
| Switzerland | 7 | 0.01% |
| Finland | 7 | 0.01% |
| Denmark | 3 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 3 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 3 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 2 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 84,337 | 89.54% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 1,773 | 1.88% |
| Born outside the EU | 8,077 | 8.58% |
Brazilians over time
Quality of life in Lecce
Full BES profile for Lecce →Lecce on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Lecce is well above the Lecce average of €739/m². Averaged across 16 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
18.3 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 23% more than ordinary condition — €1,354/m² against €1,097.
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 €1,213/m², against €1,097 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 16% 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.