Istanbul vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Istanbul	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1288	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3260	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$675	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$1155	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$361	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$138	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$958	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	95	1
😀 Quality of life	78	25
🏙️ Population	15.7M	63.4K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 142% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4522nd and 8428th ($1288 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Turkey and Kiribati, respectively. Check Turkey vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 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 1015th and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Istanbul vs South Tarawa infographic

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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	$10.5	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.2	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.55	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.98	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$3.9	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.5	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$864	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$552	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1568	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$944	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.8	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.6	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	46.24%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2833	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1376	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.6	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.88	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.61	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.22	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.17	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.55	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.22	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.1	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.85	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.87	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.68	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.9	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.41	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.5	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.56	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.3	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1043	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18637	$3644

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	$679
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$659
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$819
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$835
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$838
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$985
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$725
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$915
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$852
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$679
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$724
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$787
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$562
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$547
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$686
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$837
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$691
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$574
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$704
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$695
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$777
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$821
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$612
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$848
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$713
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1151
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$655
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$732
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$697
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1039
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1006
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$618
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$699
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$664
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$591
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$725
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$745
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$760
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1067
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1013

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637