Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Turkey Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 45.2% more expensive than Turkey overall.

Restaurants: pay 5.8% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 3.3 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 3.7% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 35.6% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 15.8% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.0% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 21.7% more in South Korea

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

Planning a move to South Korea? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

South Korea vs. Turkey Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Turkey, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.8% less for restaurants

	Turkey	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.80 TRY386.28	$7.06 ₩9,422	-9.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.25 TRY408.38	$6.17 ₩8,230	-25.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 TRY63.31	$1.53 ₩2,039	+19.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 TRY22.00	$0.88 ₩1,181	+99.2%
Average			-5.8%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.3 times more for groceries

	Turkey	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.96 TRY47.63	$3.04 ₩4,055	+215.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.58 TRY226.89	$6.12 ₩8,174	+33.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.74 TRY185.39	$8.23 ₩10,982	+119.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.15 TRY106.63	$2.94 ₩3,923	+36.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.91 TRY94.53	$4.11 ₩5,484	+115.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.80 TRY39.56	$4.00 ₩5,342	+400.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 TRY42.40	$1.55 ₩2,069	+81.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.46 TRY22.93	$3.00 ₩4,000	+547.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 TRY27.10	$2.63 ₩3,513	+380.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 TRY11.59	$2.03 ₩2,715	+769.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 TRY9.29	$1.26 ₩1,685	+572.6%
Average			+226.5%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.7% less for transportation

	Turkey	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.08 TRY251.45	$5.01 ₩6,685	-1.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.35 TRY1,602.00	$46.10 ₩61,538	+42.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$43,081.17 TRY2M	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-34.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.30 TRY410.92	$8.59 ₩11,470	+3.5%
Average			-3.7%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.6% more for housing

	Turkey	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.65 TRY675.87	$24.34 ₩32,490	+78.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$475.20 TRY23,529.06	$561.73 ₩750K	+18.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$347.61 TRY17,211.40	$387.83 ₩518K	+11.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.15 TRY2,532.59	$153.72 ₩205K	+200.5%
Average			+35.6%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.8% more for childcare

	Turkey	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$606.51 TRY30,030.78	$545.93 ₩729K	-10.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,566.63 TRY672K	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+49.0%
Average			+15.8%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Turkey	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.02 TRY149.34	$3.30 ₩4,403	+9.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 TRY169.90	$3.66 ₩4,888	+6.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.16 TRY106.77	$3.35 ₩4,467	+55.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.35 TRY2,641.36	$57.32 ₩76,507	+7.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.91 TRY292.72	$11.28 ₩15,062	+90.9%
Average			+29.0%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.7% more for clothing

	Turkey	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.05 TRY2,230.83	$67.53 ₩90,139	+49.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.92 TRY1,927.26	$53.43 ₩71,316	+37.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.74 TRY4,492.86	$78.10 ₩104K	-13.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$83.15 TRY4,117.06	$102.84 ₩137K	+23.7%
Average			+21.7%

Turkey vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Turkey vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 94.8% more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Turkey is about 8 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Turkey to South Korea · OECD 2023

1,197 people moved from Turkey to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Istanbul vs Seoul

More cost comparisons

Turkey vs.

United Kingdom

Turkey vs.

United States

Turkey vs.

South Africa

Turkey vs.

Greece

Turkey vs.

Morocco

Turkey vs.

Canada

Turkey vs.

Germany

Turkey vs.

France

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Ankara vs. Seoul

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Turkey

Add prices for South Korea

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about South Korea or Turkey. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.