All things you need to know about living in the province of Palermo
The province of Palermo is home to 333 Germans: 0.03% of its 1,198,738 residents, across 82 comuni.
ISTAT counts 36,553 residents with a foreign citizenship in the province, 3.05% of the population. The largest groups among the nationalities we follow most closely are Germans (333), Brazilians (292), French nationals (262).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of Germans in the province has risen, from 287 to 333 (+16%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 4.6% of the province's population was born outside Italy: 3.3% outside the EU and 1.3% 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 | 5,251 | 0.44% |
| Ukraine | 652 | 0.05% |
| Albania | 570 | 0.05% |
| Poland | 551 | 0.05% |
| Germany | 333 | 0.03% |
| Brazil | 292 | 0.02% |
| France | 262 | 0.02% |
| Russia | 252 | 0.02% |
| United Kingdom | 241 | 0.02% |
| United States | 233 | 0.02% |
| Spain | 205 | 0.02% |
| Venezuela | 190 | 0.02% |
| Argentina | 182 | 0.02% |
| Hungary | 70 | 0.01% |
| Belgium | 68 | 0.01% |
| Mexico | 56 | 0.00% |
| Czechia | 50 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 49 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 46 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 42 | 0.00% |
| Switzerland | 41 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 41 | 0.00% |
| Bulgaria | 40 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 36 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 35 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 31 | 0.00% |
| Lithuania | 31 | 0.00% |
| Latvia | 27 | 0.00% |
| Malta | 24 | 0.00% |
| Slovakia | 24 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 20 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 18 | 0.00% |
| Slovenia | 18 | 0.00% |
| Croatia | 15 | 0.00% |
| Estonia | 14 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 11 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 10 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 9 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 5 | 0.00% |
| Luxembourg | 3 | 0.00% |
| Cyprus | 1 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 1,144,033 | 95.44% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 15,373 | 1.28% |
| Born outside the EU | 39,332 | 3.28% |
Germans over time
Top 25 comuni by Germans share
- Chiusa Sclafani0.33%
- Collesano0.30%
- Balestrate0.25%
- Trappeto0.16%
- Alimena0.16%
- Roccamena0.15%
- Ventimiglia di Sicilia0.12%
- Cefalù0.11%
- Terrasini0.11%
- Castellana Sicula0.10%
- Alia0.09%
- Santa Flavia0.09%
- Torretta0.09%
- Bompietro0.09%
- Lascari0.08%
- Pollina0.07%
- Montelepre0.07%
- Contessa Entellina0.07%
- Altavilla Milicia0.07%
- Cinisi0.07%
- Trabia0.07%
- Giuliana0.06%
- Caltavuturo0.06%
- Palazzo Adriano0.06%
- Castelbuono0.05%
Quality of life (BES)
Quality of services
Landscape and cultural heritage
Safety
Environment
Economic well-being
Education and training
Health
Work and life balance
Social relationships
Compare Palermo with other provinces →See Palermo against all 107 on cost and quality →
Tax regimes
77 of Palermo’s 82 comuni qualify for the 7% pensioner regime — 94% of the province’s towns, but 34% 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 82 comuni of Palermo are classified.
- Zone 1 (highest hazard)1
- Zone 281
- Zone 30
- Zone 4 (lowest hazard)0
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 →