Foreign residents in San Donato di Lecce
San Donato di Lecce, in the province of Lecce, is home to 2 Germans — 0.04% of its 5,372 residents. That is the 2468th-highest concentration of Germans of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 85th within Puglia.
Across the nationalities we track, San Donato di Lecce counts 7 foreign residents in total, 0.13% of the population. The largest groups are Germans (2), Brazilians (1), Finns (1).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Germans in San Donato di Lecce has held roughly steady, from 2 to 2 (+0%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 4.2% of San Donato di Lecce's population was born outside Italy — 2.6% outside the EU and 1.6% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | 0.04% |
| Brazil | 1 | 0.02% |
| Finland | 1 | 0.02% |
| Japan | 1 | 0.02% |
| Mexico | 1 | 0.02% |
| Russia | 1 | 0.02% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Spain | 0 | 0.00% |
| France | 0 | 0.00% |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 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 | 5,147 | 95.81% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 85 | 1.58% |
| Born outside the EU | 140 | 2.61% |
Germans over time
Quality of life in Lecce
Full BES profile for Lecce →Lecce on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Tax regimes
San Donato di Lecce 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 San Donato di Lecce is well below the Lecce average of €739/m². Averaged across 2 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.
A detached house here averages €558/m², against €495 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 25% 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.