Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 13.5% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 32.4% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 96.5% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 21.9% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 26.3% more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 4.0% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.4% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 19.6% less in Tokyo

The cost of groceries, housing, and entertainment and sports in Tokyo are more expensive than in Istanbul. Expenses including restaurants, transportation, clothing, and childcare are lower in Tokyo. Notably, groceries is 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 32.4% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$7.59 ¥1,200	-37.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$5.06 ¥800	-45.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.64 ¥259	-5.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.89 ¥140	+53.1%
Average			-32.4%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 96.5% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.71 ¥270	+85.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$5.29 ¥836	+0.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$5.75 ¥909	+22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$2.26 ¥358	-6.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.08 ¥487	+21.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$2.15 ¥340	+152.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$1.07 ¥170	+4.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.96 ¥309	+241.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$2.39 ¥377	+185.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$1.53 ¥241	+392.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$1.46 ¥231	+410.6%
Average			+96.5%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.9% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$4.08 ¥645	-24.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$63.27 ¥9,997	-5.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-57.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$28.47 ¥4,499	+238.8%
Average			-21.9%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.3% more for housing

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$30.33 ¥4,793	+87.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+28.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$692.48 ¥109K	+6.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$113.45 ¥17,926	+64.7%
Average			+26.3%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 4.0% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+31.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$18,252.10 ¥3M	-29.8%
Average			-4.0%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.80 ¥600	-20.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.56 ¥563	-17.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$3.92 ¥620	+67.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$66.31 ¥10,478	-13.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$12.65 ¥1,999	+55.6%
Average			+4.4%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.6% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$55.50 ¥8,770	+4.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$32.95 ¥5,207	-16.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$65.04 ¥10,278	-34.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$70.74 ¥11,178	-25.9%
Average			-19.6%

Istanbul vs. Tokyo - 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 9 times bigger than Tokyo.

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