Foreign residents in Santa Lucia del Mela
Santa Lucia del Mela, in the province of Messina, is home to 3 French nationals — 0.07% of its 4,386 residents. That is the 1185th-highest concentration of French nationals of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 42nd within Sicilia.
Across the nationalities we track, Santa Lucia del Mela counts 6 foreign residents in total, 0.14% of the population. The largest groups are French nationals (3), Russians (2), Britons (1).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of French nationals in Santa Lucia del Mela has risen, from 1 to 3 (+200%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 5.5% of Santa Lucia del Mela's population was born outside Italy — 3.4% outside the EU and 2.1% 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 | 3 | 0.07% |
| Russia | 2 | 0.05% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 0.02% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Brazil | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Germany | 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% |
| 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 | 4,145 | 94.51% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 90 | 2.05% |
| Born outside the EU | 151 | 3.44% |
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
Santa Lucia del Mela 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 Santa Lucia del Mela is well below the Messina average of €941/m². Averaged across 2 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
21.6 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.