Foreign residents in Palermo
Palermo, in the province of Palermo, is home to 164 Brazilians — 0.03% of its 628,693 residents. That is the 3853rd-highest concentration of Brazilians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 110th within Sicilia.
Across the nationalities we track, Palermo counts 1,201 foreign residents in total, 0.19% of the population. The largest groups are Brazilians (164), Russians (136), Spaniards (133).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Brazilians in Palermo has risen, from 115 to 164 (+43%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 5.0% of Palermo's population was born outside Italy — 4.0% outside the EU and 0.9% 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 | 164 | 0.03% |
| Russia | 136 | 0.02% |
| Spain | 133 | 0.02% |
| France | 121 | 0.02% |
| Germany | 116 | 0.02% |
| United Kingdom | 111 | 0.02% |
| Argentina | 69 | 0.01% |
| United States | 63 | 0.01% |
| Venezuela | 56 | 0.01% |
| Mexico | 37 | 0.01% |
| Greece | 26 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 22 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 22 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 20 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 18 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 18 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 15 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 13 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 11 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 6 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 6 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 5 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 5 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 4 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 4 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 597,438 | 95.03% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 5,873 | 0.93% |
| Born outside the EU | 25,382 | 4.04% |
Brazilians over time
Quality of life in Palermo
Full BES profile for Palermo →Palermo on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Palermo is above the Palermo average of €1,110/m². Averaged across 49 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
24.8 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 €1,544/m², against €1,370 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 21% 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.