Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 92.4% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 10.4% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 86.7% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 24.1 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 98.2% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Istanbul

The cost of childcare, transportation, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and housing in Istanbul are more expensive than in Colombo. Notably, childcare, transportation, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$12.19 TRY603.79	+219.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$9.35 TRY462.91	+23.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$1.73 TRY85.71	+146.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.58 TRY28.65	+120.3%
Average			+115.1%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.4% less for groceries

	Colombo	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$0.92 TRY45.58	+67.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$5.28 TRY261.28	-23.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$4.69 TRY231.97	-22.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.41 TRY119.39	+47.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$2.54 TRY125.71	+15.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$0.85 TRY42.16	-72.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$1.03 TRY50.86	+177.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.57 TRY28.34	-71.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$0.84 TRY41.37	+47.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.31 TRY15.36	-31.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.29 TRY14.17	-18.9%
Average			-10.4%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Colombo	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.43 TRY269.03	+5.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+832.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+37.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$8.40 TRY416.09	+155.1%
Average			+115.2%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 86.7% more for housing

	Colombo	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$16.15 TRY799.42	-22.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+69.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+139.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	+67.4%
Average			+86.7%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 24.1 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+2604.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+2050.5%
Average			+2311.5%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 98.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$4.78 TRY236.49	+116.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$4.31 TRY213.63	+71.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$2.34 TRY115.73	-77.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+444.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$8.13 TRY402.53	+79.3%
Average			+98.2%

Colombo vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	+194.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	+138.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	+26.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	+128.7%
Average			+112.1%

Colombo 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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