All things you need to know about living in the province of Lecce
The province of Lecce is home to 486 Brazilians: 0.06% of its 764,491 residents, across 96 comuni.
ISTAT counts 29,132 residents with a foreign citizenship in the province, 3.81% of the population. The largest groups among the nationalities we follow most closely are Brazilians (486), Germans (404), French nationals (263).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Brazilians in the province has fallen, from 505 to 486 (-4%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 7.6% of the province's population was born outside Italy: 5.3% outside the EU and 2.3% elsewhere in the EU. This broad-group split isn't comparable per-nationality to the citizenship figures above. See about the data.
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Romania | 3,768 | 0.49% |
| Albania | 2,769 | 0.36% |
| Bulgaria | 742 | 0.10% |
| Poland | 642 | 0.08% |
| Brazil | 486 | 0.06% |
| Germany | 404 | 0.05% |
| Ukraine | 355 | 0.05% |
| France | 263 | 0.03% |
| United Kingdom | 244 | 0.03% |
| Spain | 209 | 0.03% |
| Russia | 200 | 0.03% |
| Switzerland | 176 | 0.02% |
| United States | 150 | 0.02% |
| Argentina | 108 | 0.01% |
| Belgium | 90 | 0.01% |
| Greece | 70 | 0.01% |
| Venezuela | 67 | 0.01% |
| Netherlands | 61 | 0.01% |
| Hungary | 52 | 0.01% |
| Portugal | 41 | 0.01% |
| Austria | 37 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 35 | 0.00% |
| Croatia | 34 | 0.00% |
| Czechia | 32 | 0.00% |
| Latvia | 31 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 30 | 0.00% |
| Lithuania | 26 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 21 | 0.00% |
| Slovakia | 20 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 19 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 11 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 11 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 7 | 0.00% |
| Estonia | 7 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 6 | 0.00% |
| Malta | 4 | 0.00% |
| Slovenia | 4 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 3 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 3 | 0.00% |
| Luxembourg | 2 | 0.00% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 706,210 | 92.38% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 17,621 | 2.30% |
| Born outside the EU | 40,660 | 5.32% |
Brazilians over time
Top 25 comuni by Brazilians share
- Lecce0.27%
- Caprarica di Lecce0.22%
- Nociglia0.14%
- Ruffano0.14%
- Guagnano0.13%
- Monteroni di Lecce0.12%
- Lizzanello0.12%
- Melendugno0.10%
- Cavallino0.09%
- Leverano0.08%
- Castrignano del Capo0.08%
- Sogliano Cavour0.08%
- Carmiano0.08%
- Montesano Salentino0.08%
- Corigliano d'Otranto0.07%
- Salve0.07%
- Martignano0.06%
- Cannole0.06%
- San Pietro in Lama0.06%
- Spongano0.06%
- Seclì0.06%
- Cursi0.05%
- Ugento0.05%
- Uggiano la Chiesa0.05%
- Muro Leccese0.04%
Quality of life (BES)
Safety
Quality of services
Environment
Health
Landscape and cultural heritage
Social relationships
Education and training
Work and life balance
Economic well-being
Compare Lecce with other provinces →See Lecce against all 107 on cost and quality →
Tax regimes
94 of Lecce’s 96 comuni qualify for the 7% pensioner regime — 98% of the province’s towns, but 84% of the people who live in it.
The two differ because the regime caps comune size: the towns it excludes are the biggest ones. Where you’d actually be living matters more than how many towns are on the list.
Which towns, and how the 7% pensioner regime works →Seismic zones of its comuni
A province has no seismic zone of its own: each of its comuni has one. Here is how the 96 comuni of Lecce are classified.
- Zone 1 (highest hazard)0
- Zone 20
- Zone 30
- Zone 4 (lowest hazard)96
Counts are comuni, not residents or land area. The zone is the legal classification each Region gave its comuni, not a forecast and not a verdict on any building. It has nothing to do with the 7% pensioner regime’s “seismic” routes, which depend on the 2009 and 2016–17 earthquake areas, not on a comune’s zone. See the map →