Cost of living comparison

Denmark

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Copenhagen Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 46.2% cheaper than Copenhagen.

Restaurants: pay 48.7% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 60.2% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 32.2% less in Istanbul
Housing: pay 52.6% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 77.9% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.1% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 39.4% less in Istanbul

Expenses including groceries, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation are lower in Istanbul. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Copenhagen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.7% less for restaurants

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.97 DKK139.94	$12.19 TRY600.23	-41.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.48 DKK89.96	$9.35 TRY460.17	-30.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.10 DKK34.01	$1.73 TRY85.20	-66.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.77 DKK25.12	$0.58 TRY28.48	-84.6%
Average			-48.7%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.2% less for groceries

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$4.77 DKK31.84	$0.92 TRY45.31	-80.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.64 DKK57.65	$5.28 TRY259.74	-38.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.89 DKK52.65	$4.69 TRY230.60	-40.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.89 DKK39.31	$2.41 TRY118.68	-59.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.31 DKK42.09	$2.54 TRY124.97	-59.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 DKK10.17	$0.85 TRY41.91	-44.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 DKK9.25	$1.03 TRY50.56	-25.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 DKK13.07	$0.57 TRY28.17	-70.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59 DKK17.26	$0.84 TRY41.13	-67.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 DKK7.12	$0.31 TRY15.27	-70.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 DKK6.35	$0.29 TRY14.08	-69.9%
Average			-60.2%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.2% less for transportation

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.58 DKK63.95	$5.43 TRY267.44	-43.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$104.86 DKK699.71	$67.03 TRY3,299.24	-36.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,184.55 DKK335K	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+1.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.03 DKK126.95	$8.40 TRY413.64	-55.8%
Average			-32.2%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.6% less for housing

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.42 DKK249.71	$16.15 TRY794.70	-56.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,981.79 DKK13,223.50	$996.85 TRY49,066.06	-49.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,454.31 DKK9,703.88	$647.83 TRY31,886.99	-55.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.83 DKK926.35	$68.87 TRY3,389.91	-50.4%
Average			-52.6%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 77.9% more for childcare

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$977.91 DKK6,525.08	$1,021.62 TRY50,285.57	+4.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,580.66 DKK57,254.43	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+203.0%
Average			+77.9%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.99 DKK59.98	$4.78 TRY235.09	-46.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.97 DKK46.54	$4.31 TRY212.37	-38.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 DKK62.97	$2.34 TRY115.04	-75.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.00 DKK427.06	$76.22 TRY3,751.41	+19.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.22 DKK134.94	$8.13 TRY400.15	-59.8%
Average			-42.1%

Copenhagen vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.4% less for clothing

	Copenhagen	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.66 DKK725.03	$53.35 TRY2,625.73	-50.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.68 DKK358.19	$39.62 TRY1,950.03	-26.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.48 DKK857.31	$99.91 TRY4,917.81	-22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$199.12 DKK1,328.62	$95.52 TRY4,701.77	-52.0%
Average			-39.4%

Copenhagen 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

Copenhagen is about 59 times smaller than Istanbul.

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