Cost of living comparison
compared to
Taichung vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary
Taichung is 26.6% cheaper than Istanbul.
Taichung vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Taichung instead of Istanbul, you would:
pay 50.2% less for restaurants
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$12.19
TRY606.11
|
$4.71
NT$153.43
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.35
TRY464.68
|
$4.71
NT$153.43
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.73
TRY86.04
|
$1.01
NT$32.84
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.58
TRY28.76
|
$0.75
NT$24.32
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of restaurants
pay 79.0% more for groceries
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.92
TRY45.76
|
$1.73
NT$56.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.28
TRY262.29
|
$14.39
NT$468.81
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.69
TRY232.86
|
$12.19
NT$397.15
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.41
TRY119.84
|
$2.54
NT$82.85
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.54
TRY126.19
|
$3.58
NT$116.74
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.85
TRY42.32
|
$1.95
NT$63.41
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.03
TRY51.06
|
$0.87
NT$28.50
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.57
TRY28.45
|
$1.39
NT$45.24
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.84
TRY41.53
|
$1.00
NT$32.59
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.31
TRY15.42
|
$0.55
NT$17.98
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.29
TRY14.22
|
$0.87
NT$28.42
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of groceries
pay 33.5% less for transportation
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.43
TRY270.07
|
$3.93
NT$128.06
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$67.03
TRY3,331.58
|
$31.39
NT$1,022.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$50,810.11
TRY3M
|
$33,523.97
NT$1M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$8.40
TRY417.69
|
$10.20
NT$332.43
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of transportation
pay 47.5% less for housing
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$16.15
TRY802.49
|
$21.18
NT$690.08
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$996.85
TRY49,547.03
|
$398.65
NT$12,990.21
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$647.83
TRY32,199.56
|
$277.01
NT$9,026.66
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$68.87
TRY3,423.14
|
$95.01
NT$3,096.13
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of housing
pay 53.7% less for childcare
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,021.62
TRY50,778.49
|
$340.05
NT$11,080.89
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,999.20
TRY1M
|
$16,741.06
NT$546K
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of childcare
pay 34.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.78
TRY237.39
|
$1.57
NT$51.14
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.31
TRY214.45
|
$2.79
NT$90.92
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.34
TRY116.17
|
$3.85
NT$125.30
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$76.22
TRY3,788.18
|
$32.43
NT$1,056.78
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$8.13
TRY404.07
|
$9.73
NT$317.08
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 5.7% more for clothing
|
Istanbul
|
Taichung
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.35
TRY2,651.47
|
$72.12
NT$2,350.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.62
TRY1,969.15
|
$36.02
NT$1,173.72
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.91
TRY4,966.02
|
$84.23
NT$2,744.65
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$95.52
TRY4,747.86
|
$115.09
NT$3,750.46
|
|
Istanbul vs. Taichung - Cost of clothing
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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