Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Turkey instead of Ukraine, you would:

Health

live 2.7 years longer

In Ukraine, the average life expectancy is 75 years (70 years for men, 79 years for women) as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 77 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.

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see 28.0% more spent on your healthcare

Ukraine spends $1,382 per person on healthcare as of 2021 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Turkey spends $1,769 as of 2023.

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be 87.3% less likely to die by suicide

Ukraine has a suicide rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Turkey, it is 2.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 26.1% more likely to be obese

In Ukraine, 22.8% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 28.8% of people as of 2024.

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have 36.7% fewer doctors per person

Ukraine has 35.3 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Turkey has 22.4 as of 2022.

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Economy

make 3.2 times more money

Ukraine has a GDP per capita of $5,866 as of 2025, while in Turkey, the GDP per capita is $18,599 as of 2025.

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Life

have 2.0 times more children

In Ukraine, there are approximately 5.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Turkey, there are 11.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 39.7% less on education

Ukraine spends 5.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Turkey spends 3.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

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spend 47.8% less on healthcare

Ukraine spends 8.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2021. In Turkey, that number is 4.3% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 2.6 times more coastline

Ukraine has a total of 2,782 km of coastline. In Turkey, that number is 7,200 km.

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Safety

be 14.6% less likely to be murdered

Ukraine has a homicide rate of 3.8 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Turkey, that number is 3.2 per 100,000 as of 2023.

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be 38.1% less likely to die in a road accident

In Ukraine, road accidents kill 10.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Turkey, they kill 6.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

use 48.3% more electricity

Ukraine uses 2,516 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Turkey uses 3,731 kWh as of 2024.

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live with 7.6 times more strain on fresh water

Ukraine withdraws 6% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Turkey withdraws 48% as of 2022.

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Environment

be 40.9% less likely to die from air pollution

In Ukraine, air pollution causes 66.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Turkey, it causes 39.0 as of 2019.

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emit 71.9% more CO2

Ukraine emits 3.1 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Turkey emits 5.4 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Compare further: Ukraine vs. Turkey

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Turkey is 30.5% more expensive than Ukraine overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Ukraine is about 1.3 times smaller than Turkey.
→
Moving from Ukraine to Turkey · OECD 2023
8,499 people moved from Ukraine to Turkey.
→

Turkey: At a glance

Turkey is a sovereign country in Middle East, with a total land area of approximately 769,632 sq km. Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the Kurdistan People's Congress or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2013, KGK and the Turkish Government agreed to a ceasefire that continues despite slow progress in ongoing peace talks. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community. Over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy; it began accession membership talks with the European Union in 2005.
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