Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1828	$1248
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4703	$3224
🏠 One person rent	$1173	$649
🏘️ Family rent	$2618	$1199
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$354
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.6	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3781	$883
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	53	95
😀 Quality of life	83	76
🏙️ Population	1.48M	15.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 46% more expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 2320th and 4347th ($1828 vs $1248) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th 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 2.1 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.7 months in Istanbul. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 438th and 850th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul infographic

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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	$10.6	$11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$49.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$8.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$4.14
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$3.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$1.38
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1236	$853
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$529
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2996	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2225	$985
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.9	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$63.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$104	$13.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.24%	47.81%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5750	$3233
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4816	$1719
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$42.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$5.79
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$0.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$2.36
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$9.72
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.87	$6.14
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$19.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$1.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.13
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$0.61
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.61
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$1.49
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$11.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$2.18
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$2.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.98	$3.23
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$2.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.88	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65.3	$54.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$6.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.9	$78.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.7	$8.76
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.9	$58.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$815
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12452	$17728

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	$1721
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2379
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1494
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1844
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2240
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1239
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1779
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1709
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$780
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$967
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1223
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1243
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1090
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$547
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$1068
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1056
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$548
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$897
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$901
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$514
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$518
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$589
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$551
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$546
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$563
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$557
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$585
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$515
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$464
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$605
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$529
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1637
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$536

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$599
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$573
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$782
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$718
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$835
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$1113
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$701
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$743
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$872
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$690
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$679
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$708
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$661
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$455
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$547
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$755
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$661
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$642
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$707
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$535
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$691
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$568
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$721
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$626
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$624
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$616
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$679
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$690
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$892
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$911
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$546
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$629
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$464
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$631
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$677
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$638
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$934
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$899