Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 3.0% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 45.4% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 28.3% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 61.3% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 23.8% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.5% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 12.1% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.4% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$12.19 TRY603.79	+52.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$9.35 TRY462.91	+16.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.73 TRY85.71	+98.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.58 TRY28.65	+84.6%
Average			+45.4%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.3% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$0.92 TRY45.58	-28.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$5.28 TRY261.28	+0.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$4.69 TRY231.97	-30.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$2.41 TRY119.39	-21.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$2.54 TRY125.71	-41.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$0.85 TRY42.16	-34.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.03 TRY50.86	+17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.57 TRY28.34	-49.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$0.84 TRY41.37	+5.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.31 TRY15.36	-43.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.29 TRY14.17	-51.4%
Average			-28.3%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 61.3% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$5.43 TRY269.03	+131.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+79.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+46.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$8.40 TRY416.09	-53.6%
Average			+61.3%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.8% less for housing

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$16.15 TRY799.42	-77.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	-16.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	-22.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-15.9%
Average			-23.8%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+92.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+157.3%
Average			+122.5%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$4.78 TRY236.49	+124.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$4.31 TRY213.63	+0.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$2.34 TRY115.73	-69.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	-15.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$8.13 TRY402.53	-39.0%
Average			-11.5%

Riyadh vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.1% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-8.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-27.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-2.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-8.1%
Average			-12.1%

Riyadh 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Riyadh is about 3 times smaller than Istanbul.

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