Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Sweden

Stockholm vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Stockholm is 55.2% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 65.2% more in Stockholm
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Stockholm
Transportation: pay 14.4% more in Stockholm
Housing: pay 83.9% more in Stockholm
Childcare: pay 68.8% less in Stockholm
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.7% more in Stockholm
Clothing: pay 68.9% more in Stockholm

The cost of groceries, housing, clothing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Stockholm are more expensive than in Istanbul. Notably, groceries and housing are significantly more expensive in Stockholm.

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Stockholm vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 65.2% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$17.99 SEK178.38	+47.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$11.90 SEK117.93	+27.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$3.66 SEK36.32	+111.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$3.09 SEK30.60	+433.5%
Average			+65.2%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$3.97 SEK39.36	+331.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$6.37 SEK63.11	+20.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$6.67 SEK66.09	+42.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$5.11 SEK50.68	+112.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$5.83 SEK57.75	+129.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$1.60 SEK15.85	+87.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$1.26 SEK12.50	+22.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.44 SEK14.23	+150.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$2.02 SEK20.03	+141.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.79 SEK7.78	+153.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.80 SEK7.94	+180.0%
Average			+110.3%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.4% more for transportation

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$6.72 SEK66.59	+23.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$105.97 SEK1,050.45	+58.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$32,980.57 SEK327K	-35.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$17.85 SEK176.99	+112.5%
Average			+14.4%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of transportation

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pay 83.9% more for housing

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$39.70 SEK393.49	+145.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,674.52 SEK16,599.03	+68.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$1,080.50 SEK10,710.63	+66.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$190.15 SEK1,884.88	+176.1%
Average			+83.9%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of housing

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pay 68.8% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$157.47 SEK1,560.91	-84.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$16,395.31 SEK163K	-36.9%
Average			-68.8%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$7.95 SEK78.78	+66.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$5.05 SEK50.04	+17.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$8.70 SEK86.22	+272.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$46.98 SEK465.67	-38.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$18.99 SEK188.29	+133.6%
Average			+42.7%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 68.9% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Stockholm
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$111.49 SEK1,105.16	+109.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$58.75 SEK582.33	+48.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$135.62 SEK1,344.36	+35.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$184.97 SEK1,833.59	+93.6%
Average			+68.9%

Istanbul vs. Stockholm - 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 26 times bigger than Stockholm.

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