Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2070	$1305
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4485	$3329
🏠 One person rent	$1417	$689
🏘️ Family rent	$2400	$1222
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$350
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.3	$152
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2675	$1095
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	51	95
😀 Quality of life	85	78
🏙️ Population	1.57M	15.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 59% more expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 1859th and 4562nd ($2070 vs $1305) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Turkey comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.8 months in Istanbul. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 447th and 925th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/abu-dhabi/istanbul.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/istanbul" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul

Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Istanbul are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abu Dhabi	Istanbul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.29	$10.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$43.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.56	$9.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$4.11
☕ Cappuccino	$5.55	$3.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1520	$896
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1151	$561
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2679	$1645
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2026	$1007
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.7	$47.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$73.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$97.1	$13.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.26%	43.72%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4936	$3111
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10145	$1596
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.79
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$54.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.58	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.12
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$0.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.36	$2.46
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$10.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$6.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$1.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$0.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$0.52
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$1.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.38	$2.18
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$2.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.82	$3.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$3.23
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.75	$2.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5	$2.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.9	$57.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$7.96
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.6	$57.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$8.88
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.9	$54.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.2	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$649	$1021
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13889	$20004

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2420
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1473
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1457
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2183
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1214
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2014
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1923
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$796
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1080
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1109
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1309
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1192
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1135
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$545
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$931
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1037
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$541
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$823
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$928
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$545
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$575
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$565
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$465
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$489
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$547
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$523
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$575
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$563
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$627
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$487
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1632
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1281
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$671
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$652
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$817
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$867
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$828
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$945
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$733
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$894
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$836
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$691
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$731
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$769
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$590
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$543
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$681
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$806
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$688
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$552
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$746
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$662
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$748
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$819
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$601
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$872
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$711
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1137
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$705
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$752
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$712
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1099
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1029
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$644
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$698
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$626
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$607
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$742
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$767
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1079
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1041