Cost of living in Istanbul Turkey
Are you interested in the cost of living in Istanbul Turkey? In this article, I’ll provide a detailed cost breakdown of all our monthly expenses in Istanbul.
If you’re wondering about life in Istanbul, this will give you an idea of how much it costs to live in Istanbul Turkey.
All information in this article and more is also included in my YouTube video:
Overview cost of living in Istanbul Turkey
I will show a very detailed monthly breakdown of our cost of living in Istanbul Turkey. We have been living in Istanbul since 2023 and I’ve compiled an Excel file with nearly 4.000 entries, covering all our expenses in 2024.
This breakdown focuses on two adults. I will show our monthly expenses in Istanbul along the following categories:
- Rent
- Utilities
- Property tax and insurance
- Groceries
- Restaurants
- Clothing / household items / online orders
- Public transportation and taxis
- Cars
- Health insurance
- Private hospitals
- Other expenses
At the end, I will show our total monthly expenses in Istanbul for two adults.
1) Rent
Let’s start with rent in Istanbul. We live in our own property, so we don’t pay rent.
However, since rent is typically the largest expense, I want to give you an estimate.
Suppose you want to rent a one-bedroom apartment in central districts of Istanbul like Beyoğlu, Şişli, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy or Üsküdar. These are the most beautiful districts in Istanbul. Rental prices for such apartments range mostly between 600 and 1.000 Euros per month. The figure depends on exact location, age of building and other factors (prices as of January 2025).
Also note, prices can be much higher if you are looking for Istanbul properties with a Bosphorus view, luxury high-rise apartments or homes in highly sought after neighbourhoods.
For this cost breakdown, let’s use an average value of 800 Euros rent per month in Istanbul.
2) Utilities
Next are utilities. On average, we spend about 55 Euros per month on utilities in Istanbul.
To be more precise, this includes electricity 10 Euros, natural gas 18 Euros, water 10 Euros, internet 10 Euros and common building dues 7 Euros.
Electricity costs are higher in summer due to our air conditioning but low in winter. Conversely, natural gas costs are higher in winter due to heating.
Common dues cover building expenses such as elevator maintenance or hallway cleaning. If you live, for example, in a gated community with amenities like security or even a pool, then common dues are significantly higher.
3) Property tax and insurance
Property tax and insurance are another recurring expense.
Regarding insurance, we have a mandatory earthquake insurance and an optional household insurance.
Our property tax is 60 Euros per year.
These items are to be paid by the property owner.
4) Groceries
Groceries amount to 380 Euros per month. Of this, 50 Euros goes to fresh fruits and vegetables from our local market.
We spend the remainder on supermarket items and drugstore purchases.
5) Restaurants and cafés
We spend on average 260 Euros per month in restaurants and cafés in Istanbul.
We are eating out quite frequently, about 3 to 4 times per week. Most often, we go to places which offer good taste for a fair price.
We also get all our dessert from cafés or patisseries.
6) Clothing / household items / online orders
This cost item is a mix of clothing, household items and online orders. In average, we spend 160 Euros per month on these.
7) Public transportation and taxis
For public transportation in Istanbul, we have two monthly public transportation passes (Istanbulkart), which cost 85 Euros in total.
We can use any metro, tram, bus or ferry. There is a certain number of rides included per month, which is more than sufficient for us.
In addition to public transportation, we also spent 8 Euros per month on taxis, primarily for airport trips.
8) Cars
We don’t own a car, but I want to say a few sentences about it. Buying a car in Türkiye is extremely expensive due to a special tax (called ‘ÖTV’).
For many cars, this tax is a whopping 220%.
Just for perspective. A brand new BMW 5 series starts from 130.000 Euros in Türkiye.
9) Health insurance
Let us now have a look at health insurance in Turkey. Like all Turkish citizens, we are covered by Universal Health insurance, known as SGK.
This costs us 17 Euros per month for the entire family. For employees, this figure is higher.
Foreigners can also be enrolled in this SGK program, if they live longer than a year in Türkiye.
We have access to any public health center or public hospital in Turkey free of charge. We are very satisfied with the quality of our family doctor at our local public health center in Istanbul. The quality of care at public hospitals is generally high, especially at modern public hospitals in large cities like Istanbul.
10) Private hospitals
Next to public hospitals, there are also private ones. Private hospitals in Istanbul are known for their high-quality services. Some even have standards like 5 star hotels.
Depending on the situation, we also visit private hospitals. In 2024, we spend on average 15 Euros in these facilities.
One standard treatment or examination cost us around 30 Euros.
There is also supplementary health insurance, if you want your treatments in private hospitals to be covered.
Additionally, we spend 10 Euros per month on medicine, which is partially covered by our health insurance.
11) Other expenses
Our remaining costs amount to 75 Euros per month. This includes two mobile phone plans for 16 Euros, a monthly barber visit for 13 Euros, and subscriptions like Netflix and YouTube Premium for 7 Euros.
Total costs
In total, our recurring monthly expenses in Istanbul amount to about 1.100 Euros or 1.150 dollars without rent. Including potential rent, this rises to around 1.900 Euros or about 2.000 Dollars per month.
This breakdown does not include one-off costs like vacations, furniture or electronics. If you consider moving to Istanbul, you’ll need to factor in these additional expenses.
You can explore other articles about Istanbul by clicking on one of the following categories: