All things you need to know about living in Messina
Messina, in the province of Messina, is home to 111 Argentinians: 0.05% of its 217,033 residents.
That is the 1022nd-highest concentration of Argentinians among the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents.
Within Sicilia it ranks 73rd.
ISTAT counts 11,986 residents with a foreign citizenship in Messina, 5.52% of the population. The largest groups among the nationalities we follow most closely are Argentinians (111), Russians (96), Brazilians (54).
On ISTAT's well-being measures, the province of Messina scores in the top quarter of Italian provinces for burglaries reported and medical specialists.
It scores in the bottom quarter for urban green and life expectancy at birth.
These figures describe the province, not the town. A comune can sit some way from its province's average.
Summers average a high of 29.7°C (85°F) and winters a low of 8.4°C (47°F), measured over 2015 to 2024.
Messina sees about 32 days a year above 30°C (86°F).
It gets about 797mm of rain a year, spread across roughly 119 days.
These come from ERA5-Land reanalysis at the comune itself, not from the nearest weather station.
OMI puts residential purchase prices in Messina at about €969 per square meter in the second half of 2025.
At those figures, buying costs about 16.5 years of renting the same property.
Messina population over time
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Romania | 1,238 | 0.57% |
| Poland | 221 | 0.10% |
| Ukraine | 183 | 0.08% |
| Argentina | 111 | 0.05% |
| Russia | 96 | 0.04% |
| Albania | 72 | 0.03% |
| Brazil | 54 | 0.02% |
| Greece | 47 | 0.02% |
| United States | 32 | 0.01% |
| Germany | 31 | 0.01% |
| Bulgaria | 29 | 0.01% |
| France | 29 | 0.01% |
| United Kingdom | 26 | 0.01% |
| Spain | 25 | 0.01% |
| Venezuela | 25 | 0.01% |
| Mexico | 12 | 0.01% |
| Czechia | 11 | 0.01% |
| Belgium | 8 | 0.00% |
| Croatia | 8 | 0.00% |
| Hungary | 8 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 8 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 6 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 5 | 0.00% |
| Latvia | 5 | 0.00% |
| Slovakia | 5 | 0.00% |
| Lithuania | 4 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 4 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 3 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 3 | 0.00% |
| Estonia | 3 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 3 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 3 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 3 | 0.00% |
| Malta | 2 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 1 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 1 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 1 | 0.00% |
| Slovenia | 1 | 0.00% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0.00% |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 202,407 | 93.26% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 2,573 | 1.19% |
| Born outside the EU | 12,053 | 5.55% |
Argentinians over time
Quality of life in Messina
Full BES profile for Messina →Messina on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
About the Messina average of €941/m². Averaged across 16 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
16.5 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.
A detached house here averages €1,256/m², against €969 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighborhood — a house costs 30% more per square meter.
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 meter, but in 450 comuni it costs less — worth checking rather than assuming.
Seismic zone
Messina is in seismic zone 1. Of the four zones, zone 1 is the highest hazard and zone 4 the lowest. The Department of Civil Protection describes zone 1 as the highest-hazard zone, where strong earthquakes are likely over the long run.
This is the legal classification the Region gave the comune, used for planning and for control of building works. It is not a forecast, and it says nothing about the building you are looking at: since the 2018 building code the design load of a new building comes from site-specific hazard, not from the zone. Have any specific property checked by a qualified engineer.
Not to be confused with the “seismic” routes of the 7% pensioner regime. Those turn on whether the comune was in the 2009 L’Aquila or 2016–17 central-Italy earthquake areas, not on its zone, and being in zone 1 does not make anyone eligible for that regime, or for any tax treatment.
See every comune on the map →Hospital, airport and daily-needs distance
Nearest hospital: Casa di Cura Cristo Re, about 1.1 km / 2 minutes by road from Messina (the main town).
Nearest emergency department: Presidio Ospedaliero Piemonte, Messina (DEA level I), about 2.2 km / 3 minutes by road from Messina (the main town).
Nearest airport: Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), about 110 km / 68 minutes by road from Messina (the main town).
Nearest supermarket (OpenStreetMap): MD, about 0.2 km / 1 minute by road from Messina (the main town).
Nearest pharmacy: Farmacia Grasso S.n.c., about 0.5 km / 1 minute by road from Messina (the main town).
Nearest railway station (OpenStreetMap): Messina Centrale, about 1.5 km / 3 minutes by road from Messina (the main town).
Measured by road from the main town of the comune (its OpenStreetMap place point; the geographic center for the few comuni with none), at free-flow speeds with no traffic. It is approximate. For Messina, a trip from your own address can take longer or shorter. Drive the route before you rely on it, and ask the local health authority which hospital serves the town. Shops, pharmacies and stations are the nearest to the main town, not to your address.
Nearby comuni
← See Messina on the interactive map
This page, as data
Every figure above sits behind the page as a value with its source, its date and its coverage attached. Your assistant reads the same record, gaps included.