Cost of Living in Istanbul

How much do the exchange offices charge for their service if I need to convert CAD to TL? Also, can someone give me a reputable website in which I can check the local exchange rates please?

"A single person estimated monthly costs are 6,657.83TL without rent."
"Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 6,058.27 TL"

"Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 5,626.69 TL"

It is very difficult to live in Istanbul, Turkey.

What a dumb foreigner you are Zhan the anonymous information on apr 19 was on target.No need to do as Zhan said WRITE QUESTIONS I WILL SHARE INFORMATION what an idiot.A full breakdown of costs has already been given correctly

Here is the comparison on monthly costs for 2 people

2,450 lira = $167 usd monthly

Currently the monthly income requirement is $400 usd

Hi everyone,

I ve heard cost of living increased drastically in turkey,
does anyone knows how much is generally required for the basic lifestyle for a foreigner in turkey per months?

Really appreciate any response

Turkey would be a great place to commit suicide in the square downtown Istanbul. Especially during lunchtime in front of an outdoor Cafe. Sounds like a good plan for me.

I've visited all of the big cities in turkey. There's nothing attractive about bad acting Turkish citizens. They normally are belligerent towards Americans the majority of the time. Whether it's a a small city or village Turkish citizens are mean.

Gasoline is not 14 TRY /l but 21.. https://www.opet.com.tr/akaryakit-fiyatlari/istanbul-avrupa

I read negative comments about Turkey and find them very political and not very honest. Yes, Turkish economy struggle and people not very happy at this time but still country has precious opportunities. Turkish hospitality is famous in the world. Food, history, beautiful nature plus very cheap... So many reasons to visit! I believe in after Erdogan everything will be much much better...

Beautiful and cheap country. Nice people and I enjoyed to be here

For many years Turkey was doing so well with work options and a heavy influx of tourism.Even with all of the tourism Turkish government and citizens were not only rude to people from every country but blatantly arrogant to visiting tourists and foreigners who opened businesses in Turkey. Prices doubled for any business licenses small or large to foreigners.The Turkish government was so arrogant they told foreigners opening businesses it'd be double the cost for a business license.Turkish businesses normally charged 50% more to tourists no lie. I refused to pay an additional 50% more for food especially since Turkish citizens paid the regular prices sitting next to me. It's a known fact Turkish government and its citizens never liked anyone from any countries. They've always acted like they were better than any other countries it's true. But many countries have walked away from Turkey with no friends left abroad.Not even IMF International Monetary Fund will loan Turkey money because Turkey has defaulted on 3 large loans already and more defaults are on the way meaning every country puts money into the IMF so in essence Turkish government has stolen from all countries.

If u come turkey you first eat kebab and get out of turkey

the biggest refugee camp in the whole planet. close to 3 million refugees living in this city. mostly syrian and afghans.

One of the scammiest place on Earth, they’re pretty creative on trying to overcharge tourists. Is advisable to go with a local

80% population of Turkey working around a 140 euros per month right now. You do the math.

As of December 16, 2021 $1 usd to 14.86 Lira.It looks like the other poster was right about Lira being 25 to one dollar by June 2022.I can just imagine how much more the Lira will lose against the dollar by years end. It's a bad situation here in Turkey for everyone because the cost of living has outstripped wages earned by far. The government isn't doing much to help and funds are running out quickly. I used up what savings I had last month just to buy a little food just like many others have I'm sure. Turkey is holding a debt from the IMF for over 57 billion usd unable to make even interest payments. It looks like Turkey is doomed hope not.

Arena post Dec 9 2021

I agree with your information on the Lira crashing not good for Turkish citizens at all.But citizens have been unhappy with the government allowing so many Syrian immigrants into Turkey and many have taken jobs from the Turkish citizens too.

The minimum wage will be drastically cut mid 2022 or sooner unfortunately.Currently there's over 1.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and more are coming each day to further burden the economy.

Ergodan has managed to make Saudi Arriba angry boycotting their products so Saudi Arabia pulled all turkey products off the shelves.But other middleastern countries are also a big part of trade and they've followed the same path as Saudi Arabia did boycotting all products from Turkey.

Currency it's 1 usd to 13.72 Lira really bad for citizens. I believe the Lira will be at 1 usd to 25 Lira by mid 2022.Ergodan has managed to anger more than middle eastern countries but other countries around the world.

Turkey is supposed to be an ali to the U S but on many occasions has threatened to kick the U S airforce out of Adana for no reason especially since the U S military is a big part of security in Turkey.

The U S government gave a stern warning to Erdogan by Mike Pence when Trump was the president. Pence said grave consequences are on the way for Ergodans wrecklous behavior and the outcome is obvious. But like I mentioned before Ergodan has made many other countries angry but unfortunately Turkish citizens are feeling the fallout.

Turkey has been on a downward spiral for 20 years now financially. None of the high rise buildings in Istanbul Ankara and other areas of turkey are paid for its just debt.Investors have left turkey and the IMF isn't giving anymore loans turkey already owes 47 billion dollars to the IMF and turkey has missed 4 payments so far. Turkey owes many countries money without a doubt and the majority of loans haven't been receiving payments. Turkey is quickly turning into another Syria basically turkey is broke because no country can live on loans very long. Nobody in their right mind would invest one dollar in turkey. But you can " MORAD " since you seem to be a financial guru.

Turkish people are suffering since current exchange rate is $1 usd to 13.75 lira.Turkish citizens wanting to visit or live in the U S will have a very long wait time just to visit the U S. I went to the U S embassy in Turkey to make an appointment/interview to visit the U S. But I made the appointment in January 2021 I was told the U S embassy would contact me to schedule the interview but no answer and it's been almost 1 year now. So I visited the U S embassy in Turkey last week to find out how much longer it'll take? I was told no exact date of an interview could be given,and not to ask again in a rough tone. Other Turkish friends of mine have been trying to get a visitor visa for the U S some have been waiting over 2 years and no answer yet. It seems the U S has closed off visits to the U S from Turkish people but friends from other countries are having the same problem.

Anything that has American mixed in the gene pool isn't welcome in turkey. But overall Turkish people don't like or welcome anyone outside of their country. Its always been like that.Erdogan like his so-called management cannot bring back any value to the lira against the dollar. Endogan put his own financial interests before Turkish people and here's why.So far Erdogan has sold well over 50,000 Syrian refugees privately to China only women and female children to enhance Chinas badly needed working population. However one ship which had over 15,000 Syrian refugees inroute to China from turkey was caught but nothing was done about it.Turkish investors have lost everything investing in things Erdogan recommended. The dollar is dominating world currencies and it'll continue to do so for decades to come and beyond. Remember this if visiting turkey though many Turkish are desperate financially so most foreigners visiting will most certainly be targeted for robbery.

That's true unfortunately. The Turkish lira has lost nearly 800% of its value against the US dollar since 2008.

I am a Canadian and looking for doing business in Istanbul.I am looking for some one who had contact to sell domestic product like food items( dried food, fruit,etc) , furniture, medicines in domestic or international.Just to provide the I like to give 10 percent of profit from every deal.

If average salary is 3600 lira, how people live with that? A lot of people must be struggling. I pray for Turkey, its people, everyone except the dictator wannabe Erdogan.

Hum Shyama Khanna mar 23

Watching a movie about Turkey is much different than living here as I've done all my life. I recommend you don't give your whatsapp number here or anywhere else online.

Ergodan continues to make countries mad but he doesn't care at all. Recently Saudi Arabia pulled anything from Turkey off the shelves and not accepting anything else produced in Turkey. With the King of Saudi Arabia's influence comes other Arab nations doing the same thing now not accepting anything made in Turkey. The Lira won't rebound for many years not months if at all.In the same breath Ergodan wants more foreign investments but he continues to do the opposite with his actions.Many Europeans Australians Americans Asians and Middle Easterners,have already left Turkey closed their businesses and many retired people have left.It's no secret as to why they're leaving Turkey. Nobody wants to be associated with a country that promotes a dictatorship nobody. Wake up Turkish people and start being more respectful towards others who make the Turkey economy run or face financial devastation on a large scale in the very near future.

Covid19 has spiked as of January 26 2021.Currently 93,871 new cases and 1,248 deaths in 2 days.So far 1,963,221 have been vaccinated,and those vaccinated have contracted covid19 again. Sadly the vaccine isn't working.317 deaths in the group of 1,248 received the vaccine.
Safeguard yourselves try to stay at home disinfect everything inside of your home and change your clothes you wore while out and wash them.

Istanbul is in a world all of its own being multicultural which can be a good thing to experience. With so many different cultural beliefs and customs there's bound to be many differences of opinions. But any big cities no matter where they are there's going to be the same. New visitors visiting Istanbul please understand although Turkish customs remain there'll be many differences of opinion so keep an open mind when visiting. Nobody can learn how Istanbul works over night.Be patient understanding and enjoy the mix of many different cultures.Tue food scene is amazing especially in Istanbul.

l'm a Turkish Citizen...l live in Izmir ...The Number of employees in Turkey is about 33 millions ...The Minimum wage in Turkey is 2825 Turkish Liras in 2021 ... Nearly 10 Millions of People work with The Minimum wage in Turkey ... Average Salary is about 4000 Turkish Liras ... İstanbul is an expensive City but lf you earn over 1500 dollars per month and you have only one kid ,you can get by ...

I think 3,369.53 TL avarage monthly salary is not accurate. This wage can be avarage in another cities of Turkey but İstanbul avarage must be around 4,000.00 TL.

I don't know where you get your numbers from but 5,000 TL wouldn't even get a halfway decent apartment for one person in Istanbul. Plus a family would struggle on 10,000 TL per month honestly. Especially when apartments start from 8,000 TL and go way up from there. Even suburbs of Istanbul are very expensive to name a few being Sultangazi and Maltepe.There are cheaper alternatives away from Istanbul like Sanliurfa where I live population 450,000.Any city's of 250,000 up to 600,000 are much cheaper without giving up modern conviences.I rent a very nicely furnished 2 bedroom apartment fully equipped for 800 TL per month near all conviences.I started out living in Istanbul 13 years ago and it was possible to get by on 7,000 TL per month for one person and still have a little left.As I noticed things skyrocketing after living in Istanbul 7 years I left to a cheaper area as I mentioned priorly. Just remember anything on the water attracts tourists meaning higher prices on everything.BTW the increased prices don't go away when tourist season isn't in full swing but instead remains.

For retired people, which one of these three areas is most suitable? Nisantasi, Ulus, Bakirkoy (Florya/Yeşilköy)? We want a place with a little bit of city vibe, but don’t want to end up in an area Mainly for younger, working professionals. Areas on the Bosporus seem nice, but during our visits, we noticed the patrons of the restaurants in Bebek, Kurucesme were mostly Young or middle aged people and the areas were quite crowded. We are looking for an area with enough city vibe, but not too busy and crowded with working professionals. A little laidback area where everything is close by with plenty of restaurant options including foreign cuisine like Italian, Japanese and Indian among others would be ideal

high increase in usd compared to turkish lira and inflation due to corona is increasing prices as it is everywhere. I would recommend you to find a Turkish friend who knows his/her way around istanbul if you dont have high budget. About the covid, you can be sure that most of the people are cleaning themselves constantly due to their habits or religious beliefs and also almost in every table at restaurants, shops or in their entrances, you can find free to use hand sanitizers you dont even need to carry your own sanitizer. as for the physical security, as in everywhere, stay away from slums. Other than that since they have the guards patrolling during nights

What’s the best residential areas for retirees in Istanbul? We are planning to retire in 3-5 years and want spend some time in Istanbul. We like traveling, since Istanbul is close to all destinations we want to visit: middle east, central asia, southeast asia and Africa, we want to rent an apartment there and use it a base for several years, we are a well educated Muslim couple from central asia who studied, worked and lived in US for over thirty years and we are mostly secular, go to Mosque only for holiday prayers or funerals etc cultural rituals. So, we want to live in a neighborhood of well educated, secular or moderately religious older Muslim retirees, Turkish or non Turkish people with Muslim cultural backgrounds. We speak Turkish fluently, of course English as well. Money is not an issue. our budget is $5000-8000 excluding health insurance and travel budgets. If you live in Istanbul, I would love hear your advice. Thanks

A person who can see things from other people's ideas and who can understand other people's spiritual activities will never have to worry about their future

All of the living costs for Istanbul are wrong and not updated . For example, a beer price in a normal bar 35 Try. Normal food one person 45 try . one lewis jean 339 try , one mounth home rent 2200 try etc.

aight guys eat kebab and live in istanbul. If you are smart and single you can live in istanbul with 2000 turkish liras as well as you can live in london with 1000 pounds. if you want a decent life without action and worry of meeting the months end, get an income of 3000, get a 1+1 for 1000 and live like a king. cinema costs like 30tl kebab costs like 20tl. if you want a more expensive outdoor activity, you can do it once in two days or three days. Ez tricks to live in istanbul listen to me I wont be here always. peace out

First of all, Turkey is a secular country not an Islamic country as propaganda at the western countries.
Secondly Istanbul is a beautiful place where anyone in the world must see before die, and it is safe as New York , London and other big capitals.

What's with all the insane conspiracy theorists trying to make Turkey sound like a war zone? It's less dangerous than Chicago or Baltimore. Or the meth belt.

I've just come back from Istanbul as a single female , let me just say I felt more safe there then here in London. The people are lovely. I stayed in faith and the area was beautiful. Very peaceful. There's nothing to worry about. It's a lovely city and the people were more than willing to help me out.

I asked to see crime statistics but he said don't believe everything you read in the paper because the majority of reports are bogus and they're bogus for reasons we cannot report things that are grusome.

Tell me how many abductions have happened for the last 10 years in İstanbul, a city of 15-20 million. As a born and raised Istanbul citizen I have never heard one(not that it never happened but I think it's vastly overrated.) Compared to mass shootings, serial killers on the loose, lunatics with automatic rifles running around freely, İstanbul is like a kindergarden in terms of safetly. But people don't go around and claim that US is just a sugarcoated version of the movie purge made by and made for psychopaths and rich people, instead we argue that these mere events are just a blip, a mark in the beautiful painting that is US. So, just stick to places like "levent, kadiköy, etc." and avoid places "tarlabaşı" and you'll be fine. Don't put to much weight on mere anecdotes by people and just look at the crime statistics and see it for yourself.

# Kim figure a minimum of 400 TRY per week food and transportation 600 TRY much better though per week.Istanbul most expensive city in Turkey.Did you know ISIS is alive and well especially in Istanbul and police normally look the other way? Crimes against foreigners happen quite often especially on foreign women.Go out in a group only during the night and have several people with you during the day for your safety.The majority of people will tell you that's not true but I'm an American living in Istanbul so I know first hand.I've lived in Istanbul two years now, almost abducted three times, yes it's that bad. I'm leaving Istanbul next month when my employment contract runs out.So far this year 263 foreign female abductions by ISIS in Istanbul some American some British and some Swedish women none found again,be safe.

Is it possible to leave in turkey alone and depending on 2222 TRY as a salary per month.am single

I want to buy a 2roomms apartment/flate in Istanbul, how much price.

Hello.

My girlfriend and I are thinking about moving to Turkey. She already has a job opportunity that pays around 4000 TRY and I have an online job that roughly translates to 2200 TRY.

Do you think around 6600 TRY per month would be sufficient for the two of us? We're really more of a laid back and stay at home on a friday kind of couple.

Thank you!

I really want to live in Istanbul with my husband and daughter.I like to know how much money I need to manage a family of 3 three?

to the man who is attending college in Istanbul who was from Nigeria, has it been hard living there? i dont know any Turkish but im hoping to go to Istanbul for university, do you think I'll manage without knowing the language?

Ahh finally a # German replies.Why did Merkel beg president Trump to be Germany's Ally fighting their battles last year only for Trump to say deal with it? Merkel stated I guess germany cannot depend on the U S anymore as an ally boo hoo.Germany is on their own.You must be related to those other cocksucker's # World # Nukes and # To Muricans.I'd say you're the same posters.How many germans can you get in a Volkswagen beetle? One American and 59 germans in the ASHTRAY.Trump needs a bigger golf course.Maybe he'll destroy Germany and build one.Blocking you now fuzz nuts, just taking out another load of trash as usual.

# WORLD Being an American citizen I must agree with Anonymous post on May 26.Nobody likes to be lied to especially real American citizens that know how it really is.Go back to your hole where you came from somewhere overseas WORLD.

To World# So you're from Finland living in D C.You're poor wording of sentences shows you're a lieing punk wanna be American most likely texting from a tree in Africa.All you said about the U S is incorrect.Tell you're bullshit to someone else you lieing piece of shit,fuck you.