Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 44.1% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 5.4% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 2.7 times more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 90.5% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 72.3% more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 35.0% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.2% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 15.7% less in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.4% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 TRY510.35	$8.02 ¥1,303	-25.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.42 TRY396.94	$5.01 ¥814	-40.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.41 TRY66.67	$1.16 ¥189	-17.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 TRY24.41	$0.84 ¥137	+62.7%
Average			-5.4%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 TRY34.98	$1.55 ¥252	+109.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.71 TRY221.83	$7.21 ¥1,171	+53.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.92 TRY185.01	$5.71 ¥928	+45.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 TRY120.78	$2.33 ¥379	-9.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 TRY132.35	$3.52 ¥572	+25.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.70 TRY32.89	$2.38 ¥386	+240.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.04 TRY49.13	$1.18 ¥191	+13.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 TRY28.98	$2.48 ¥402	+302.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 TRY31.01	$2.64 ¥429	+301.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY14.39	$1.43 ¥232	+367.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY13.54	$1.48 ¥241	+416.0%
Average			+169.7%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 90.5% more for transportation

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.52 TRY212.87	$4.50 ¥731	-0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$51.00 TRY2,404.33	$73.51 ¥11,941	+44.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$46,262.10 TRY2M	$22,332.63 ¥4M	-51.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.40 TRY301.68	$30.07 ¥4,885	+369.9%
Average			+90.5%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 72.3% more for housing

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.42 TRY679.74	$33.44 ¥5,433	+131.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$944.04 TRY44,504.45	$1,071.65 ¥174K	+13.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$600.84 TRY28,325.30	$642.24 ¥104K	+6.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.55 TRY2,430.36	$122.16 ¥19,845	+137.0%
Average			+72.3%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 35.0% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,054.93 TRY49,732.21	$519.69 ¥84,421	-50.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,729.11 TRY883K	$15,131.74 ¥2M	-19.2%
Average			-35.0%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.61 TRY170.12	$4.01 ¥651	+11.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.73 TRY175.77	$3.43 ¥557	-8.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.17 TRY102.07	$4.01 ¥651	+85.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.55 TRY2,854.42	$68.19 ¥11,077	+12.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.94 TRY374.26	$12.70 ¥2,063	+59.9%
Average			+32.2%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.7% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.12 TRY2,598.62	$56.84 ¥9,233	+3.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.04 TRY2,170.62	$40.48 ¥6,576	-12.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.25 TRY5,291.56	$62.67 ¥10,181	-44.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$100.05 TRY4,716.72	$90.37 ¥14,681	-9.7%
Average			-15.7%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: July 2026

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