Cost of living comparison

Brunei

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Kuala Belait Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 7.8% more expensive than Kuala Belait.

Restaurants: pay 41.1% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 50.0% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 93.2% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 10.4% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.9% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 30.4% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Kuala Belait Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Kuala Belait, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.1% more for restaurants

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.81 BND10.06	$12.19 TRY613.89	+56.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.66 BND9.87	$9.35 TRY470.65	+22.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 BND1.19	$1.73 TRY87.14	+87.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 BND0.66	$0.58 TRY29.13	+12.2%
Average			+41.1%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.0% less for groceries

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.47 BND3.18	$0.92 TRY46.35	-62.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.46 BND12.19	$5.28 TRY265.65	-44.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.05 BND9.08	$4.69 TRY235.85	-33.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.66 BND3.42	$2.41 TRY121.38	-9.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 BND5.68	$2.54 TRY127.81	-42.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 BND2.77	$0.85 TRY42.86	-60.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 BND1.28	$1.03 TRY51.71	+3.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.22 BND2.87	$0.57 TRY28.81	-74.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 BND1.48	$0.84 TRY42.06	-27.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 BND0.99	$0.31 TRY15.62	-59.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.28 BND1.65	$0.29 TRY14.40	-77.7%
Average			-50.0%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.2% more for transportation

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.39 BND1.79	$5.43 TRY273.53	+290.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$67.03 TRY3,374.37
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,264.80 BND40,268.56	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+62.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.48 BND39.26	$8.40 TRY423.05	-72.4%
Average			+93.2%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.4% more for housing

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.12 BND83.88	$16.15 TRY812.79	-75.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.24 BND955.99	$996.85 TRY50,183.32	+34.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$781.30 BND1,006.31	$647.83 TRY32,613.07	-17.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.87 BND38.48	$68.87 TRY3,467.10	+130.5%
Average			+10.4%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.85 BND279.30	$1,021.62 TRY51,430.60	+371.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,323.57 BND12,008.61	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+178.9%
Average			+262.5%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 BND2.52	$4.78 TRY240.44	+144.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.53 BND5.83	$4.31 TRY217.21	-4.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.81 BND10.06	$2.34 TRY117.66	-70.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$97.67 BND125.80	$76.22 TRY3,836.83	-22.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 BND7.05	$8.13 TRY409.26	+48.6%
Average			+8.9%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.4% less for clothing

	Kuala Belait	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.20 BND98.14	$53.35 TRY2,685.52	-30.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$101.33 BND130.52	$39.62 TRY1,994.44	-60.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$154.15 BND198.55	$99.91 TRY5,029.79	-35.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.29 BND93.10	$95.52 TRY4,808.83	+32.1%
Average			-30.4%

Kuala Belait vs. Istanbul - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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