Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 21.4% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 13.1% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 75.5% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 11.7% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 17.6% less in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.2% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 5.8% more in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.95	$12.19 TRY600.23	+172.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.94	$9.35 TRY460.17	+79.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.73 TRY85.20	+188.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.48	$0.58 TRY28.48	+56.4%
Average			+123.9%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.1% less for groceries

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$0.92 TRY45.31	-53.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.54	$5.28 TRY259.74	-38.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.03	$4.69 TRY230.60	-31.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.41 TRY118.68	+42.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$2.54 TRY124.97	+71.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$0.85 TRY41.91	-14.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.03 TRY50.56	+33.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.57 TRY28.17	-36.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.84 TRY41.13	+8.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.31 TRY15.27	-13.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.29 TRY14.08	-34.0%
Average			-13.1%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.5% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.22	$5.43 TRY267.44	+9.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.65	$67.03 TRY3,299.24	+124.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+162.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.93	$8.40 TRY413.64	+48.3%
Average			+75.5%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.7% more for housing

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.61	$16.15 TRY794.70	+53.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,940.04	$996.85 TRY49,066.06	-3.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,940.05	$647.83 TRY31,886.99	+10.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.86	$68.87 TRY3,389.91	+56.3%
Average			+11.7%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 17.6% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,460.10	$1,021.62 TRY50,285.57	-27.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	-6.1%
Average			-17.6%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.99	$4.78 TRY235.09	+300.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.42	$4.31 TRY212.37	+28.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.96	$2.34 TRY115.04	-37.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.64	$76.22 TRY3,751.41	+16.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.89	$8.13 TRY400.15	-9.2%
Average			+34.2%

Shanghai vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.8% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.89	$53.35 TRY2,625.73	-1.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.26	$39.62 TRY1,950.03	+6.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.23	$99.91 TRY4,917.81	+32.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.45	$95.52 TRY4,701.77	-9.6%
Average			+5.8%

Shanghai 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

Shanghai is about 1.2 times bigger than Istanbul.

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