Istanbul vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Istanbul	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1328	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3415	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$687	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$1209	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$354	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$169	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1177	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	95	1
😀 Quality of life	79	30
🏙️ Population	15.7M	63.4K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 153% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4475th and 8528th ($1328 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Turkey and Kiribati, respectively. Check Turkey vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.9 months in Istanbul compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 829th and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Istanbul vs South Tarawa

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

	Istanbul	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$47.9	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.57	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.56	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$4.15	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.67	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$894	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$548	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1617	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$983	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.4	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$83.7	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$15.4	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	41.66%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3154	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1658	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.5	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.17	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.73	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.25	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.5	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.92	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.2	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.22	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.02	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.24	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.99	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.2	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.01	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.2	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.59	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.6	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1014	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23206	$4506

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649