Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 18.4% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 17.8% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.7 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 22.1% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 8.0% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 28.1% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.1% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 14.2% less in Seoul

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

Planning a move to South Korea? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Seoul vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.8% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$8.96 ₩11,955	-26.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$7.46 ₩9,962	-20.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.58 ₩2,112	-8.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.79 ₩1,049	+35.8%
Average			-17.8%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.7 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$3.10 ₩4,134	+236.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$8.84 ₩11,798	+67.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$7.79 ₩10,403	+66.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$3.61 ₩4,813	+49.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$4.74 ₩6,328	+86.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$3.46 ₩4,624	+306.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$1.57 ₩2,091	+52.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$2.59 ₩3,462	+353.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$2.83 ₩3,782	+239.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$1.66 ₩2,211	+433.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$1.16 ₩1,542	+303.7%
Average			+169.2%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.1% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.53 ₩7,384	+1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$46.28 ₩61,767	-31.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-42.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$8.51 ₩11,357	+1.3%
Average			-22.1%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.0% more for housing

	Istanbul	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$20.82 ₩27,787	+28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$886.39 ₩1M	-11.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$620.25 ₩828K	-4.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$162.69 ₩217K	+136.2%
Average			+8.0%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.1% more for childcare

	Istanbul	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+88.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$22,602.27 ₩30M	-13.1%
Average			+28.1%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.73 ₩4,981	-21.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$4.10 ₩5,473	-5.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$3.36 ₩4,483	+43.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$58.22 ₩77,707	-23.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$11.20 ₩14,944	+37.7%
Average			-1.1%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.2% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$57.88 ₩77,255	+8.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$32.77 ₩43,743	-17.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$69.99 ₩93,417	-29.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$82.45 ₩110K	-13.7%
Average			-14.2%

Istanbul vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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. Seoul

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Seoul?

Size Comparison · See true size

Istanbul is about 9 times bigger than Seoul.

More cost comparisons

Istanbul vs.

Warsaw

Istanbul vs.

Berlin

Istanbul vs.

Vienna

Istanbul vs.

New York City

Istanbul vs.

Quito

Istanbul vs.

Moscow

Istanbul vs.

Athens

Istanbul vs.

Lima

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Turkey vs. South Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Turkey and South Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Istanbul

Add prices for Seoul

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Seoul or Istanbul. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.