Cost of living comparison

Macedonia

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Skopje Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 41.2% more expensive than Skopje.

Restaurants: pay 16.0% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 2.8% more in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 39.8% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 70.5% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.0% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 13.2% less in Istanbul

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Istanbul are more expensive than in Skopje. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Skopje Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.0% more for restaurants

	Skopje	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.58 MKD525.47	$12.19 TRY603.79	+27.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.45 MKD353.80	$9.35 TRY462.91	+44.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 MKD100.43	$1.73 TRY85.71	-5.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MKD73.75	$0.58 TRY28.65	-57.0%
Average			+16.0%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.8% more for groceries

	Skopje	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 MKD42.21	$0.92 TRY45.58	+19.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.98 MKD218.01	$5.28 TRY261.28	+32.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.76 MKD261.02	$4.69 TRY231.97	-1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.46 MKD134.98	$2.41 TRY119.39	-2.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.35 MKD183.84	$2.54 TRY125.71	-24.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.66 MKD36.01	$0.85 TRY42.16	+29.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MKD35.19	$1.03 TRY50.86	+60.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 MKD33.45	$0.57 TRY28.34	-6.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 MKD47.64	$0.84 TRY41.37	-3.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 MKD21.34	$0.31 TRY15.36	-20.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 MKD20.09	$0.29 TRY14.17	-21.9%
Average			+2.8%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.8% more for transportation

	Skopje	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.00 MKD328.99	$5.43 TRY269.03	-9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.26 MKD1,494.95	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+145.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,440.15 MKD2M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+43.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 MKD318.92	$8.40 TRY416.09	+44.5%
Average			+39.8%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.5% more for housing

	Skopje	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.00 MKD1,041.93	$16.15 TRY799.42	-15.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$418.20 MKD22,932.64	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+138.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$324.42 MKD17,790.03	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+99.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$119.51 MKD6,553.79	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-42.4%
Average			+70.5%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Skopje	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$355.23 MKD19,479.61	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+187.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,681.18 MKD312K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+357.6%
Average			+262.8%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Skopje	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 MKD149.49	$4.78 TRY236.49	+75.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.09 MKD114.88	$4.31 TRY213.63	+106.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 MKD189.36	$2.34 TRY115.73	-32.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.17 MKD2,092.93	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+99.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.27 MKD398.65	$8.13 TRY402.53	+11.8%
Average			+52.0%

Skopje vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.2% less for clothing

	Skopje	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.15 MKD4,614.40	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-36.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.88 MKD2,022.17	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	+7.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.78 MKD5,581.14	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-1.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.67 MKD6,178.55	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-15.2%
Average			-13.2%

Skopje 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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