Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 1.8% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 12.7% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 26.3% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 6.7% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 13.4% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 74.0% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 3.0% more in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Istanbul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.7% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$12.02 ZAR198.22	-1.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-35.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.30 ZAR21.44	-24.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.99 ZAR16.37	+71.6%
Average			-12.7%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.3% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.23 ZAR20.34	+34.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-16.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.99 ZAR82.36	+6.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$3.14 ZAR51.78	+30.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.07 ZAR50.65	+21.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.85 ZAR13.99	-0.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.87 ZAR14.35	-15.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.77 ZAR12.72	+34.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$0.95 ZAR15.70	+13.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+124.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+139.2%
Average			+26.3%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.7% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.86 ZAR96.61	+7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$60.09 ZAR991.09	-10.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-30.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+50.2%
Average			-6.7%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.4% more for housing

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+147.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+2.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+9.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	+28.5%
Average			+13.4%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 74.0% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-74.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	-73.8%
Average			-74.0%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.00 ZAR49.55	-37.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$2.43 ZAR40.04	-43.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+54.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$49.37 ZAR814.26	-35.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+10.9%
Average			-21.9%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.0% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$55.49 ZAR915.30	+4.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-18.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+19.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	+10.5%
Average			+3.0%

Istanbul vs. Cape Town - 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

Compare further: Istanbul vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Istanbul is about 2.2 times bigger than Cape Town.

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