Turkey · Cost of living by city

Cost of living in Istanbul

Prices for October 2026

Monthly living costs in Istanbul, Turkey, built from prices read directly at the original sources. Choose the number of adults and children to calculate by household size; every price opens its list of sources.

Calculate by household size

Currency

Total per month Not enough data

  • Rent (1-bedroom) TRY 42,000
  • Electricity, water, gas Not enough data
  • Internet & mobile TRY 1,659
  • Groceries TRY 4,712
  • Eating out TRY 2,130
  • Transport TRY 2,033

Missing data: Water, 4 m³, Water, 15 m³, Gas, 100 kWh, Gas, 225 kWh

Amounts are rounded to the nearest unit, so the parts may differ from the total by 1 or 2 units. International school fees and other reference items are not included. How households are built is explained in How it is calculated.

Housing & utilities

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Rent, 1-bedroom apartment, outside the centre TRY 42,000 / month TRY 20,000 – 60,000 11
11 sources
Rent, 3-bedroom apartment, outside the centre TRY 54,750 / month TRY 27,000 – 90,000 22
22 sources
Electricity, 200 kWh TRY 648 / month TRY 648 – 648 2
2 sources
Electricity, 450 kWh TRY 1,797 / month TRY 1,797 – 1,797 2
2 sources
Water, 4 m³No data yet
Water, 15 m³No data yet
Gas, 100 kWhNo data yet
Gas, 225 kWhNo data yet

Internet & mobile

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Fixed internet, 100 Mbps or faster TRY 1,080 / month TRY 950 – 1,210 2
2 sources
Mobile plan, 10 GB or more TRY 579 / month TRY 400 – 758 2
2 sources

Groceries

Online retail prices of everyday items; a fixed basket of 15 items.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
White rice TRY 116 / kg TRY 64 – 200 4
4 sources
Sandwich bread, 500 g loaf TRY 83.11 / loaf TRY 54 – 106 4
4 sources
Fresh milk TRY 83.66 / litre TRY 74.70 – 92.05 4
3 sources
Hen eggs TRY 6.40 / egg TRY 5.18 – 7.76 4
3 sources
Chicken breast fillet TRY 302 / kg TRY 260 – 345 2
2 sources
Fresh beef TRY 1,385 / kg TRY 1,380 – 1,390 2
2 sources
Tomatoes TRY 102 / kg TRY 100 – 103 2
2 sources
Potatoes TRY 52.96 / kg TRY 48.45 – 57.46 2
2 sources
Onions TRY 42.66 / kg TRY 39.96 – 45.35 2
2 sources
Lettuce TRY 45.88 / head TRY 22.95 – 57.45 4
4 sources
Apples TRY 80.33 / kg TRY 62.45 – 91.96 4
3 sources
Bananas TRY 159 / kg TRY 120 – 199 4
3 sources
Oranges TRY 77.71 / kg TRY 74.95 – 80.46 2
2 sources
Vegetable cooking oil TRY 167 / litre TRY 155 – 184 4
3 sources
Bottled water, 1.5 litres TRY 27.48 / bottle TRY 17.20 – 34.45 4
3 sources

Eating out

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Meal at an inexpensive restaurant (main course, soft drink) TRY 115 / meal TRY 100 – 130 2
2 sources
Meal at a mid-range restaurant (starter or dessert, main course, soft drink) TRY 605 / meal TRY 460 – 750 2
2 sources

Transport

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Monthly public transport pass, adult TRY 2,033 / month TRY 2,033 – 2,033 2
2 sources
Monthly public transport pass, child TRY 653 / month TRY 653 – 653 2
2 sources

School fees (reference)

For reference only; not added to the total.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
International school tuition, Grade 3No data yet

How it is calculated

  1. Prices: each item is the average of samples read straight from the original source: supermarket web shops, official tariffs of electricity, water, gas, mobile and transport operators, rental listings and restaurant menus. No price-aggregator sites are used. Every item opens its list of sources. Rents are for apartments outside the city centre.
  2. Housing: 1 to 2 people rent a 1-bedroom apartment; 3 to 6 people rent a 3-bedroom apartment. The calculator accepts households of up to 6 people because the largest apartment in the data has 3 bedrooms.
  3. Electricity, water, gas: linear interpolation by household size between the 1-person level (electricity 200 kWh, water 4 m³, gas 100 kWh) and the 4-person level (electricity 450 kWh, water 15 m³, gas 225 kWh); above 4 people the same slope is extended. Gas is left out where most apartments cook on electricity.
  4. Groceries: a fixed basket of 15 everyday items at online retail prices, one basket per adult and 0.6 of a basket per child. It is not a household’s full food spending.
  5. Eating out: per adult, 8 meals at an inexpensive restaurant and 2 at a mid-range restaurant a month; children are not counted.
  6. Internet and mobile: one internet plan per household and one mobile plan per adult.
  7. Transport: one adult monthly pass per adult and one child monthly pass per child.
  8. International school fees and other reference items are shown for information and are not added to the total.
  9. Where an item lacks enough data, that part and the total read “Not enough data”. Prosperous Intelligence does not estimate in its place.
  10. Conversion to US dollars uses central-bank exchange rates fixed to one day for the whole batch; the rate date and the dates prices were read are on the Data sources page.

Methodology · Data sources

See also

Cost of Living Index (0–⁠100 scale)  · Country profile: Turkey  · Cities in Turkey  · All cities

Reference data, not financial advice. Prices change over time; this page shows the prices of the month stated at the top.