Foreign residents in Scalea
Scalea, in the province of Cosenza, is home to 144 Russians — 1.25% of its 11,537 residents. That is the 6th-highest concentration of Russians of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 1st within Calabria.
Across the nationalities we track, Scalea counts 279 foreign residents in total, 2.42% of the population. The largest groups are Russians (144), Britons (28), Argentinians (18).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Russians in Scalea has risen, from 44 to 144 (+227%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 16.3% of Scalea's population was born outside Italy — 11.5% outside the EU and 4.9% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 144 | 1.25% |
| United Kingdom | 28 | 0.24% |
| Argentina | 18 | 0.16% |
| Venezuela | 17 | 0.15% |
| Brazil | 16 | 0.14% |
| Sweden | 11 | 0.10% |
| United States | 10 | 0.09% |
| Germany | 8 | 0.07% |
| France | 5 | 0.04% |
| Belgium | 4 | 0.03% |
| Canada | 4 | 0.03% |
| Spain | 4 | 0.03% |
| Netherlands | 4 | 0.03% |
| Finland | 2 | 0.02% |
| Ireland | 2 | 0.02% |
| Austria | 1 | 0.01% |
| Portugal | 1 | 0.01% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 9,656 | 83.70% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 560 | 4.85% |
| Born outside the EU | 1,321 | 11.45% |
Russians over time
Quality of life in Cosenza
Full BES profile for Cosenza →Cosenza on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Tax regimes
Scalea 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 Scalea is well above the Cosenza average of €795/m². Based on a single OMI micro-zone, so it describes the town as one market.
22.1 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 €1,180/m², against €1,060 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 11% 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.