Foreign residents in Leni
Leni, in the province of Messina, is home to 5 French nationals — 0.74% of its 680 residents. That is notable for a comune of its size.
Across the nationalities we track, Leni counts 14 foreign residents in total, 2.06% of the population. The largest groups are French nationals (5), Swiss nationals (4), Germans (2).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of French nationals in Leni has risen, from 4 to 5 (+25%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 10.9% of Leni's population was born outside Italy — 6.2% outside the EU and 4.7% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| France | 5 | 0.74% |
| Switzerland | 4 | 0.59% |
| Germany | 2 | 0.29% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 0.29% |
| Portugal | 1 | 0.15% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Brazil | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Spain | 0 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Russia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 0 | 0.00% |
| United States | 0 | 0.00% |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 606 | 89.12% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 32 | 4.71% |
| Born outside the EU | 42 | 6.18% |
French nationals over time
Quality of life in Messina
Full BES profile for Messina →Messina on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Tax regimes
Leni 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 Leni is far above the Messina average of €941/m². Averaged across 2 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
23.2 years of rent here equal the purchase price, close to 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 €2,450/m², against €2,000 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 15% 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.