Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Spain

Barcelona vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Barcelona is 42.1% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 60.6% more in Barcelona
Groceries: pay 78.0% more in Barcelona
Transportation: pay 19.1% less in Barcelona
Housing: pay 87.4% more in Barcelona
Childcare: pay 22.9% less in Barcelona
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% more in Barcelona
Clothing: pay 20.9% more in Barcelona

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

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Barcelona vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 60.6% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$17.92 €15.95	+46.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$13.44 €11.96	+43.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$2.98 €2.65	+72.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$1.91 €1.70	+230.1%
Average			+60.6%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of restaurants

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pay 78.0% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.99 €1.78	+116.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$8.79 €7.83	+66.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.83 €4.29	+3.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$4.93 €4.39	+104.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$4.13 €3.68	+62.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$1.37 €1.22	+61.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.91 €0.81	-11.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.20 €1.07	+109.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.21 €1.08	+45.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.95 €0.85	+207.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.99 €0.88	+244.8%
Average			+78.0%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.1% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$6.87 €6.12	+26.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$25.53 €22.72	-61.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	-30.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$14.90 €13.26	+77.3%
Average			-19.1%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.4% more for housing

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$35.30 €31.42	+118.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	+67.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	+100.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$138.62 €123.38	+101.3%
Average			+87.4%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of housing

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pay 22.9% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$951.83 €847.16	-6.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	-36.1%
Average			-22.9%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.92 €3.49	-17.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.23 €2.88	-25.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$7.00 €6.23	+199.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$53.11 €47.27	-30.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$11.20 €9.97	+37.7%
Average			+0.2%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.9% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Barcelona
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$87.34 €77.74	+63.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$39.19 €34.88	-1.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$105.13 €93.57	+5.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$119.81 €106.64	+25.4%
Average			+20.9%

Istanbul vs. Barcelona - 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

Istanbul is about 53 times bigger than Barcelona.

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