Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 39.6% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 23.1% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 27.8% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 44.3% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 95.8% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 48.4% more in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$12.19 TRY603.79	+356.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$9.35 TRY462.91	+74.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$1.73 TRY85.71	+142.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.58 TRY28.65	+55.0%
Average			+174.8%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.1% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$0.92 TRY45.58	-19.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$5.28 TRY261.28	-61.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$4.69 TRY231.97	-38.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.41 TRY119.39	+29.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.54 TRY125.71	-9.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$0.85 TRY42.16	-21.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.03 TRY50.86	+98.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.57 TRY28.34	-51.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.84 TRY41.37	+20.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.31 TRY15.36	-53.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.29 TRY14.17	-41.4%
Average			-23.1%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.8% more for transportation

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$5.43 TRY269.03	-3.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+38.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+80.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$8.40 TRY416.09	-0.8%
Average			+27.8%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.3% more for housing

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$16.15 TRY799.42	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+54.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+56.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-0.5%
Average			+44.3%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 95.8% more for childcare

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+63.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+134.6%
Average			+95.8%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$4.78 TRY236.49	+251.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$4.31 TRY213.63	+141.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$2.34 TRY115.73	+31.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+60.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$8.13 TRY402.53	+92.0%
Average			+108.7%

Vientiane vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.4% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	+99.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-40.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	+76.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	+133.0%
Average			+48.4%

Vientiane 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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