Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 14.7% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 8.7% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 26.6% more in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 1.8% less in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 23.3% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 77.6% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.5% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 10.7% more in Johannesburg

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

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Johannesburg vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 8.7% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
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	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-22.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-30.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+54.0%
Average			-8.7%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.6% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.25 ZAR20.56	+35.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-18.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$5.00 ZAR82.53	+6.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+10.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-1.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.93 ZAR15.38	+9.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-19.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+44.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$0.94 ZAR15.50	+12.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.76 ZAR12.57	+145.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+192.5%
Average			+26.6%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.8% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+6.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+34.5%
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	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-4.2%
Average			-1.8%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.3% less for housing

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+122.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-50.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	-34.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+154.1%
Average			-23.3%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 77.6% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-76.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-79.0%
Average			-77.6%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-52.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-43.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$3.30 ZAR54.51	+41.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-52.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-3.9%
Average			-34.5%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.7% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+8.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+15.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+8.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+10.8%
Average			+10.7%

Istanbul vs. Johannesburg - 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 3.2 times bigger than Johannesburg.

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