Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Africa

Sandton vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 18.2% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 21.1% less in Sandton
Groceries: pay 19.4% more in Sandton
Transportation: pay 12.5% less in Sandton
Housing: pay 23.4% less in Sandton
Childcare: pay 73.4% less in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.1% less in Sandton
Clothing: pay 3.2% more in Sandton

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

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Sandton vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.1% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$10.82 ZAR178.40	-11.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$5.71 ZAR94.15	-38.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.06 ZAR17.48	-38.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+47.1%
Average			-21.1%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.4% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+19.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-18.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+10.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-12.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.93 ZAR15.38	+9.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.82 ZAR13.49	-20.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+44.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-0.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.70 ZAR11.46	+124.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.79 ZAR13.04	+176.2%
Average			+19.4%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.5% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+5.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	??
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	$7.51 ZAR123.89	-10.6%
Average			-12.5%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.4% less for housing

	Istanbul	Sandton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+128.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$540.64 ZAR8,917.37	-45.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$440.65 ZAR7,268.03	-32.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$126.36 ZAR2,084.21	+83.5%
Average			-23.4%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 73.4% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Sandton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-74.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$7,210.58 ZAR119K	-72.3%
Average			-73.4%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Sandton
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	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+39.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$36.05 ZAR594.66	-52.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-11.3%
Average			-36.1%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.2% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Sandton
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	$96.14 ZAR1,585.75	-3.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-5.6%
Average			+3.2%

Istanbul vs. Sandton - 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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