Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Ashgabat is 47.5% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 76.3% more in Ashgabat
Groceries: pay 3.1 times more in Ashgabat
Transportation: pay 60.5% less in Ashgabat
Housing: pay 98.0% more in Ashgabat
Childcare: pay 85.4% less in Ashgabat
Entertainment and Sports: pay 84.9% more in Ashgabat
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in Ashgabat

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

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Ashgabat vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.3% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$31.43 TMT110.31	+157.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$12.86 TMT45.13	+37.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.57 TMT5.52	-9.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.86 TMT3.01	+48.1%
Average			+76.3%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.1 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$2.04 TMT7.15	+121.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$18.82 TMT66.06	+256.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$17.09 TMT59.98	+264.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$6.00 TMT21.06	+148.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$9.07 TMT31.84	+257.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$2.30 TMT8.07	+170.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$3.84 TMT13.49	+274.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$3.40 TMT11.94	+494.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.67 TMT5.87	+100.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$1.04 TMT3.64	+234.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.65 TMT2.27	+126.5%
Average			+207.5%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.5% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$1.62 TMT5.69	-70.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$10.00 TMT35.10	-85.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$43,928.57 TMT154K	-13.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$9.71 TMT34.10	+15.6%
Average			-60.5%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of transportation

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pay 98.0% more for housing

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$102.86 TMT361.03	+537.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,414.29 TMT4,964.14	+41.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$1,000.00 TMT3,510.00	+54.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$436.97 TMT1,533.78	+534.5%
Average			+98.0%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of housing

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pay 85.4% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$22.86 TMT80.23	-97.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$24,807.14 TMT87,073.07	-4.6%
Average			-85.4%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of childcare

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pay 84.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$5.71 TMT20.06	+19.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$6.79 TMT23.82	+57.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$25.71 TMT90.26	+1000.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$195.24 TMT685.29	+156.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$8.57 TMT30.09	+5.4%
Average			+84.9%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Istanbul	Ashgabat
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$55.71 TMT195.56	+4.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$114.29 TMT401.14	+188.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$364.29 TMT1,278.64	+264.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$192.86 TMT676.93	+101.9%
Average			+117.0%

Istanbul vs. Ashgabat - 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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