Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 29.6% cheaper than Barcelona.

Restaurants: pay 37.7% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 43.8% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 23.5% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 46.6% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 29.6% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 17.3% less in Istanbul

The cost of childcare and transportation in Istanbul are more expensive than in Barcelona. Expenses including housing, groceries, restaurants, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Barcelona, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.7% less for restaurants

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$12.19 TRY603.79	-31.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$9.35 TRY462.91	-30.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.98 €2.65	$1.73 TRY85.71	-41.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 €1.70	$0.58 TRY28.65	-69.7%
Average			-37.7%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.8% less for groceries

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 €1.78	$0.92 TRY45.58	-53.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.79 €7.83	$5.28 TRY261.28	-40.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 €4.29	$4.69 TRY231.97	-2.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93 €4.39	$2.41 TRY119.39	-51.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.13 €3.68	$2.54 TRY125.71	-38.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 €1.22	$0.85 TRY42.16	-37.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.03 TRY50.86	+12.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 €1.07	$0.57 TRY28.34	-52.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$0.84 TRY41.37	-31.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.85	$0.31 TRY15.36	-67.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.29 TRY14.17	-71.0%
Average			-43.8%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.5% more for transportation

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.87 €6.12	$5.43 TRY269.03	-20.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.53 €22.72	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+162.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+44.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.90 €13.26	$8.40 TRY416.09	-43.6%
Average			+23.5%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.6% less for housing

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.30 €31.42	$16.15 TRY799.42	-54.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	-40.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	-50.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.62 €123.38	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-50.3%
Average			-46.6%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 29.6% more for childcare

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$951.83 €847.16	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+7.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+56.5%
Average			+29.6%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$4.78 TRY236.49	+21.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 €2.88	$4.31 TRY213.63	+33.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.00 €6.23	$2.34 TRY115.73	-66.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.11 €47.27	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+43.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$8.13 TRY402.53	-27.4%
Average			-0.2%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.3% less for clothing

	Barcelona	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €77.74	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-38.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.19 €34.88	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	+1.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.13 €93.57	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-5.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.81 €106.64	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-20.3%
Average			-17.3%

Barcelona vs. Istanbul - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Barcelona is about 53 times smaller than Istanbul.

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