Abu Dhabi vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$1328
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4670	$3415
🏠 One person rent	$1489	$687
🏘️ Family rent	$2612	$1209
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$354
🚐 Transport expenses	$73.8	$169
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2773	$1177
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	51	95
😀 Quality of life	85	79
🏙️ Population	1.57M	15.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 61% more expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 1650th and 4475th ($2133 vs $1328) 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 0.9 months in Istanbul. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 424th and 829th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$8.11	$10
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$47.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$9.57
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.9	$4.56
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$4.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$1.67
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1728	$894
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1197	$548
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3067	$1617
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$983
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$54.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$83.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$88	$15.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.64%	41.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4681	$3154
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8556	$1658
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.6	$60
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.63	$8.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$0.73
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.71
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$10.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.69	$6.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$21.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$1.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$2.35
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$0.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$0.46
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$1.51
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.55	$2.22
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.49	$3.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3.24
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.56	$1.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.22	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.8	$63.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$8.01
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.9	$61.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$9.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.1	$55.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$628	$1014
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14421	$23206

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	$1791
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2470
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1543
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1455
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2356
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1173
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2100
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$2015
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$797
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1082
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1062
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1340
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1218
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1193
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$494
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$965
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1059
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$497
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$778
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$917
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$521
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$526
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$505
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$454
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$457
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$485
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$471
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$530
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$514
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$700
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$559
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$459
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1628
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1247
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$651
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$634
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$790
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$824
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$807
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$899
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$731
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$866
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$812
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$692
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$724
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$763
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$593
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$598
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$710
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$764
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$679
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$522
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$750
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$656
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$747
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$830
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$606
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$855
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$710
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1201
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$713
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$741
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$699
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1140
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1030
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$676
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$702
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$641
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$610
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$743
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$702
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$743
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1060
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1020