Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Serbia

Belgrade vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Belgrade is 4.0% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 41.7% more in Belgrade
Groceries: pay 16.4% more in Belgrade
Transportation: pay 3.8% less in Belgrade
Housing: pay 3.2% more in Belgrade
Childcare: pay 57.6% less in Belgrade
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.0% less in Belgrade
Clothing: pay 46.9% more in Belgrade

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

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Belgrade vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 41.7% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$13.25 RSD1,385	+8.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$13.35 RSD1,395	+42.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$2.79 RSD292	+61.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$2.31 RSD241	+298.9%
Average			+41.7%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.15 RSD120	+24.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$5.65 RSD590	+7.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$5.41 RSD565	+15.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$2.75 RSD287	+13.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.08 RSD322	+21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.74 RSD77	-13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.83 RSD86	-19.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.85 RSD88	+47.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.39 RSD145	+66.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.41 RSD43	+32.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.32 RSD33	+10.3%
Average			+16.4%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.8% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$7.16 RSD748	+31.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$30,517.27 RSD3M	-39.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$11.06 RSD1,156	+31.6%
Average			-3.8%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.2% more for housing

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$35.64 RSD3,725	+120.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$821.08 RSD85,814	-17.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$553.04 RSD57,801	-14.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$166.93 RSD17,446	+142.4%
Average			+3.2%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of housing

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pay 57.6% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$425.54 RSD44,475	-58.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$11,215.66 RSD1M	-56.9%
Average			-57.6%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.72 RSD389	-22.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.12 RSD326	-27.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$4.67 RSD488	+99.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$41.23 RSD4,309	-45.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$8.58 RSD897	+5.6%
Average			-17.0%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 46.9% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Belgrade
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$110.61 RSD11,560	+107.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$46.78 RSD4,889	+18.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$117.03 RSD12,231	+17.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$154.95 RSD16,194	+62.2%
Average			+46.9%

Istanbul vs. Belgrade - 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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