PodcastLiving in Istanbul costs nearly four minimum wages
According to Istanbul Planning Agency's research, the cost of living in Istanbul increased by about 73% in July compared to the same month last year and was calculated as nearly 39,000 Turkish liras.
Duvar English
According to the Istanbul Planning Agency's (IPA) research, the average cost of living for a family of four in Istanbul was 38,828 Turkish liras ($1,438) in July. Accordingly, the cost of living in Istanbul increased by 73.24 percent compared to the same month last year.
The cost of living also increased by 3,448 liras compared to June. Considering that the minimum wage is 11,402 liras ($422), the new cost of living is almost four times higher.
The agency observed that one of the most striking price increases was in olive oil prices with an increase of 94.31% among the products frequently used by households.
The Trade Ministry recently imposed an export ban to prevent the negative impact of olive oil exports on domestic consumer prices due to increasing demand in the world.
Meat (108.63%), tomatoes (140.89%), feta cheese (52.71%), hair care products (191.10%), cleaning products (103.55%) also saw a large increase compared to last year.
Istanbul has ranked as the 185th most expensive city in the world among 227 cities from across five continents, according to an annual Cost of Living survey of the New York-based Mercer consulting company.
Istanbul ranked as 185th most expensive city in the worldDomestic
Turkish district governor bans CHP’s exhibition about hikes due to potential for turning into rallyPolitics
Turkish trade union protests against tax hikes across countryEconomy