Foreign residents in Lesa
Lesa, in the province of Novara, is home to 19 Russians — 0.87% of its 2,179 residents. That is the 17th-highest concentration of Russians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 4th within Piemonte.
Across the nationalities we track, Lesa counts 70 foreign residents in total, 3.21% of the population. The largest groups are Russians (19), Britons (16), Germans (10).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Russians in Lesa has risen, from 13 to 19 (+46%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 15.6% of Lesa's population was born outside Italy — 13.1% outside the EU and 2.5% 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 | 19 | 0.87% |
| United Kingdom | 16 | 0.73% |
| Germany | 10 | 0.46% |
| Finland | 5 | 0.23% |
| Brazil | 4 | 0.18% |
| United States | 4 | 0.18% |
| Argentina | 3 | 0.14% |
| Switzerland | 2 | 0.09% |
| Spain | 2 | 0.09% |
| France | 2 | 0.09% |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0.09% |
| Australia | 1 | 0.05% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 0 | 0.00% |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 1,840 | 84.44% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 54 | 2.48% |
| Born outside the EU | 285 | 13.08% |
Russians over time
Quality of life in Novara
Full BES profile for Novara →Novara on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Lesa is above the Novara average of €1,194/m². Averaged across 4 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
24.9 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 €1,794/m², against €1,444 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 24% 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.