---
title: "Cost of Living: Seoul vs Istanbul — Geo-Parity"
description: "Türkiye is 32% cheaper than South Korea for monthly essentials ($905 vs $1,334). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-turkiye/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=TR"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · KR vs TR

# 🇰🇷 Seoul vs 🇹🇷 Istanbul: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$1,334** in South Korea vs **$905** in Türkiye — 32% cheaper.

- **Essentials, South Korea**: $1,334/mo
- **Essentials, Türkiye**: $905/mo
- **Difference**: -32%
- **1-bed city rent, Türkiye**: $572/mo

## Biggest differences

Much cheaper in Türkiye

- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: -36%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: -36%
- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: -36%

Closest to South Korea prices

- Petrol/gasoline, 1L: -12%
- Imported beer, 330ml bottle: -12%
- Running shoes (brand): -12%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | South Korea | Türkiye | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $894 | $572 (22,575 TRY) | -36% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $715 | $458 (18,061 TRY) | -36% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $1,635 | $1,046 (41,281 TRY) | -36% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $10.62 | $7.48 (295 TRY) | -30% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $44.25 | $31.16 (1,229 TRY) | -30% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $6.81 | $4.95 (195 TRY) | -27% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.75 | $0.58 (23 TRY) | -23% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.18 | $1.69 (67 TRY) | -22% |
| Eggs, dozen | $2.32 | $1.79 (71 TRY) | -23% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $6.81 | $5.28 (208 TRY) | -22% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.73 | $2.11 (83 TRY) | -23% |
| Apples, 1kg | $3.27 | $2.53 (100 TRY) | -23% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $8.18 | $6.34 (250 TRY) | -22% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.36 | $1.06 (42 TRY) | -22% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $3.54 | $2.49 (98 TRY) | -30% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $6.60 | $5.81 (229 TRY) | -12% |
| Cappuccino | $2.95 | $2.08 (82 TRY) | -29% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.57 | $1.21 (48 TRY) | -23% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $40.24 | $29.25 (1,154 TRY) | -27% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.70 | $1.24 (49 TRY) | -27% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $2.36 | $1.66 (66 TRY) | -30% |
| Taxi, per km | $1.06 | $0.75 (30 TRY) | -29% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.78 | $0.69 (27 TRY) | -12% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $124 | $90.00 (3,551 TRY) | -27% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $43.33 | $31.50 (1,243 TRY) | -27% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $27.86 | $20.25 (799 TRY) | -27% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $29.50 | $20.77 (819 TRY) | -30% |
| Cinema seat | $8.26 | $5.82 (230 TRY) | -30% |
| Men's haircut | $17.70 | $12.46 (492 TRY) | -30% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $45.40 | $39.96 (1,577 TRY) | -12% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $74.29 | $65.39 (2,580 TRY) | -12% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $148 | $104 (4,098 TRY) | -30% |

Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the [interactive tool](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=prices&base=KR&target=TR).

## Beyond prices

What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about **7,942 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 🇹🇷 Türkiye |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $2,316 | $1,076 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $797 | $453 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 34.4% | 42.1% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $1,058 | $104 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 2.6 | 2.2 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Seoul and Istanbul. | 76 | 95 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | strong | weak |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2 (very low) | 5.4 (high) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 18 | 14 |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 19.2 | 21.1 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 83.6 | 77.4 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 97.9% | 89.8% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 273.4 | 123.8 |

## Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?

Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.

🇰🇷 South Korea

21.1 pts

13.3% of your income vs 34.4% of a local wage

🇹🇷 Türkiye

34.5 pts

7.6% of your income vs 42.1% of a local wage

Worked at $6,000/month. [Run it on your own income](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=housing)

## The whole South Korea → Türkiye move, in one place

Everything above is free and always will be. The relocation report is the same engines run together for this one corridor: what you keep after rent, prices, healthcare and tax; the local wage ladder you would be earning against; which visas your income qualifies for; the day count that makes you tax-resident; and the months worth being there for.

[See the South Korea → Türkiye report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/south-korea-to-turkiye/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

- [Reverse view: Türkiye vs South Korea](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/turkiye-vs-south-korea/)
- [Fair salary: South Korea → Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/salary/south-korea-to-turkiye/)
- [How much to retire in Türkiye?](https://geo-parity.com/fire/turkiye/)
- [Cost of living in Türkiye vs the US](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/turkiye/)

## More comparisons

### South Korea compared with

- [South Korea vs Argentina](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-argentina/)
- [South Korea vs Brazil](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-brazil/)
- [South Korea vs Saudi Arabia](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-saudi-arabia/)
- [South Korea vs China](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-china/)
- [South Korea vs South Africa](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-south-africa/)
- [South Korea vs Chile](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-chile/)

### Moving to Türkiye from

- [Portugal vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-turkiye/)
- [Singapore vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/singapore-vs-turkiye/)
- [Greece vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-turkiye/)
- [Japan vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/japan-vs-turkiye/)
- [Czechia vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/czechia-vs-turkiye/)
- [United Arab Emirates vs Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/united-arab-emirates-vs-turkiye/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much cheaper is Türkiye than South Korea?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $905 in Türkiye versus $1,334 in South Korea — 32% less. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Türkiye?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $2.49 in Türkiye (≈ 98.24 TRY), versus about $3.54 in South Korea.
- **How much is rent in Türkiye compared to South Korea?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $572/month in Türkiye versus $894/month in South Korea (-36%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- **How are these prices estimated?**: Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.

Model estimates — verify locally. Agents: GET /api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=TR.

---

Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-turkiye/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=TR