Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Latvia

Riga vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Riga is 2.7% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 22.6% more in Riga
Groceries: pay 31.5% more in Riga
Transportation: pay 18.4% less in Riga
Housing: pay 17.9% less in Riga
Childcare: pay 34.5% less in Riga
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.4% more in Riga
Clothing: pay 19.7% more in Riga

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

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Riga vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.6% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Riga
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$16.80 €14.95	+37.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$9.24 €8.22	-1.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.61 €1.44	-6.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$1.18 €1.05	+103.7%
Average			+22.6%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.5% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Riga
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.43 €1.27	+55.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$5.22 €4.65	-1.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.41 €3.92	-5.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$3.76 €3.34	+55.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.91 €3.48	+54.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$1.00 €0.89	+16.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.83 €0.73	-19.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.13 €1.00	+97.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.40 €1.24	+67.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.40 €0.36	+29.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.42 €0.37	+46.9%
Average			+31.5%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.4% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Riga
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$7.75 €6.90	+42.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$33.59 €29.90	-49.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$27,308.11 €24,305.20	-46.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$11.42 €10.17	+35.9%
Average			-18.4%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.9% less for housing

	Istanbul	Riga
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$20.41 €18.17	+26.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$582.45 €518.40	-41.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$385.02 €342.68	-40.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$286.52 €255.02	+316.0%
Average			-17.9%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of housing

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pay 34.5% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Riga
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$645.25 €574.29	-36.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$17,635.84 €15,696.53	-32.2%
Average			-34.5%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Riga
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$5.60 €4.98	+17.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.72 €3.31	-13.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$6.72 €5.98	+187.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$49.91 €44.42	-34.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$10.75 €9.57	+32.2%
Average			+7.4%

Istanbul vs. Riga - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.7% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Riga
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$69.42 €61.79	+30.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$50.39 €44.85	+27.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$85.85 €76.41	-14.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$138.10 €122.91	+44.6%
Average			+19.7%

Istanbul vs. Riga - 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 18 times bigger than Riga.

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