Cost of living comparison

Sweden

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Stockholm Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 35.5% cheaper than Stockholm.

Restaurants: pay 39.5% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 52.5% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 12.6% less in Istanbul
Housing: pay 45.6% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 40.8% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Stockholm Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.5% less for restaurants

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 SEK178.38	$12.19 TRY603.79	-32.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.90 SEK117.93	$9.35 TRY462.91	-21.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.66 SEK36.32	$1.73 TRY85.71	-52.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.09 SEK30.60	$0.58 TRY28.65	-81.3%
Average			-39.5%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.5% less for groceries

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$3.97 SEK39.36	$0.92 TRY45.58	-76.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.37 SEK63.11	$5.28 TRY261.28	-17.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 SEK66.09	$4.69 TRY231.97	-29.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.11 SEK50.68	$2.41 TRY119.39	-52.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.83 SEK57.75	$2.54 TRY125.71	-56.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.60 SEK15.85	$0.85 TRY42.16	-46.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 SEK12.50	$1.03 TRY50.86	-18.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 SEK14.23	$0.57 TRY28.34	-60.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 SEK20.03	$0.84 TRY41.37	-58.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.79 SEK7.78	$0.31 TRY15.36	-60.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 SEK7.94	$0.29 TRY14.17	-64.3%
Average			-52.5%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% less for transportation

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.72 SEK66.59	$5.43 TRY269.03	-19.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$105.97 SEK1,050.45	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	-36.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,980.57 SEK327K	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+54.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.85 SEK176.99	$8.40 TRY416.09	-52.9%
Average			-12.6%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.6% less for housing

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.70 SEK393.49	$16.15 TRY799.42	-59.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,674.52 SEK16,599.03	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	-40.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,080.50 SEK10,710.63	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	-40.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$190.15 SEK1,884.88	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-63.8%
Average			-45.6%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.47 SEK1,560.91	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+548.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,395.31 SEK163K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+58.6%
Average			+220.8%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.95 SEK78.78	$4.78 TRY236.49	-39.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.05 SEK50.04	$4.31 TRY213.63	-14.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.70 SEK86.22	$2.34 TRY115.73	-73.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.98 SEK465.67	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+62.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.99 SEK188.29	$8.13 TRY402.53	-57.2%
Average			-29.9%

Stockholm vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.8% less for clothing

	Stockholm	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$111.49 SEK1,105.16	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-52.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$58.75 SEK582.33	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-32.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$135.62 SEK1,344.36	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-26.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$184.97 SEK1,833.59	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-48.4%
Average			-40.8%

Stockholm 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

Stockholm is about 26 times smaller than Istanbul.

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