# Cost of Living in North Cyprus: 2026 Monthly Numbers > The monthly cost of living in North Cyprus in 2026 — rent, electricity, internet, groceries and mobile, priced for students, couples and remote workers. - Canonical: https://www.kiprarent.com/en/guide/cost-of-living-north-cyprus/ - Updated: 2026-06-13 - Language: English - Publisher: Kipra Rent A Car — https://www.kiprarent.com/ --- A single person renting their own 1+1 in Famagusta lives on roughly **€640–970 a month (~£550–840)** at June 2026 prices — added up line by line below — while a student in shared housing gets by on a compiled **€350–687**. The two-currency reality shapes everything: rent is quoted in pounds, every bill under the roof is in lira. This page is the numbers; moving here involves permits and paperwork, which we set out in the [moving-to-North-Cyprus roadmap](/en/guide/moving-to-north-cyprus/) and the [work-permit process for foreigners](/en/guide/working-in-north-cyprus/). ## What does a month in North Cyprus cost? The monthly lines, as of June 2026: rent **£250–750** depending on area, electricity around **2,180 TL** for a moderate month, internet **990–1,390 TL**, groceries **€100–180** for one, and about **8,400 TL** if you eat out eight times. The table: | Monthly line item | Amount (2026) | Note | | --- | --- | --- | | Rent, 1+1 | **£250–650** Famagusta · **£500–750** İskele/Long Beach | Pound-quoted; full bands in the [apartment rents guide](/en/guide/apartment-rents-famagusta-iskele/) | | Electricity (~300 kWh) | **~2,180 TL** (~€41) | Tiered tariff — see below | | Internet (fibre 20–30 Mb) | **990–1,390 TL** (~€19–26) | Operator list price, VAT incl. | | Water (municipal, ~10 m³) | **~730 TL** (~€14) | Press-reported ~73 TL/m³ for 2026 — confirm on your bill | | Mobile (prepaid package) | **429–699 TL / 15 days** (~€8–13) | Visitor packages; resident contract plans differ | | Groceries, one person | **5,300–9,600 TL** (€100–180) | Student compilation, 2026-03; basket detail in the [grocery prices guide](/en/guide/grocery-prices-north-cyprus/) | | Eating out (8 meals) | **~8,400 TL** (~€158) | Calculation at the budget-restaurant sample; bands in the [restaurant prices guide](/en/guide/restaurant-prices-north-cyprus/) | Adding the rows for one person in their own Famagusta 1+1 — rent at the band, moderate bills, groceries plus eight meals out — totals roughly **€640–970 a month**. That is a calculation from the sourced rows above at the KKTC Central Bank rate of 12 June 2026 (~53.2 TL/EUR, ~61.7 TL/GBP), not a survey result. For scale: the TRNC minimum wage from January 2026 is **net 52,738 TL** a month (~€990). The full dataset is published at [/data/guides/cost-of-living-north-cyprus.csv](/data/guides/cost-of-living-north-cyprus.csv). ## What does rent cost? One summary line, as of June 2026 portal listings: a 1+1 runs **£250–650** a month in Famagusta depending on neighbourhood, and **£500–750** in the new-build İskele/Long Beach stock — quoted and paid in pounds sterling by convention. That single row hides the whole market's structure: student streets versus seafront new-builds, deposits, the annual-advance student convention. All of it lives in the [apartment rents guide](/en/guide/apartment-rents-famagusta-iskele/) — this page keeps one row on purpose. ## Why is electricity the line to watch? Because the tariff is tiered and rose **22% on 1 June 2026** — the first adjustment in 14 months — and air-conditioning pushes a summer month up the tiers fast. The KIB-TEK residential tariff, effective 1 June 2026: | Monthly usage | Rate (TL/kWh) | | --- | --- | | 0–250 kWh | **5.8614** | | 251–500 kWh | **12.0920** | | 501–750 kWh | **13.0019** | | 751–1,000 kWh | **14.0933** | | 1,001+ kWh | **16.8444** | Plus a fixed monthly charge of **110.58 TL**. The worked example: a ~300 kWh month calculates to about **2,180 TL (~€41)** — 250 kWh at the first rate, 50 kWh at the second, plus the fixed charge. Note how the second tier costs more than double the first: a July with the air conditioning running lands most of its usage in the expensive tiers, so the same apartment can swing from ~€40 in spring to several times that in high summer. Budget the year, not the month you signed the contract in. ## What do internet, water and mobile cost? Fibre internet lists at **730 TL** a month for 10 Mb up to **3,430 TL** for 100 Mb, with the practical 20–30 Mb middle at **990–1,390 TL**, VAT included, as of the operator's 2026 price list. Water from the Famagusta municipality is press-reported at about **73 TL/m³** for 2026 — reported as the highest municipal rate in the north, and worth confirming on an actual bill — which makes a typical 10 m³ month roughly **730 TL**. Mobile: prepaid visitor packages run **429–699 TL per 15 days** as of June 2026; the [SIM and roaming guide](/en/guide/sim-esim-roaming-north-cyprus/) covers operators, eSIMs and what those packages include. Resident contract plans are a different price list — ask in-store once you have local ID paperwork. ## How does it compare with Türkiye and the UK? The honest comparison is split by line, as of 2026: groceries and fuel sit near Türkiye-level parity, while rent behaves like its own market because it is priced in pounds. Fuel tracks Turkish pump prices almost exactly and undercuts EU prices by roughly half — the [fuel prices guide](/en/guide/fuel-prices-north-cyprus/) runs the three-way comparison. Groceries follow Turkish brands and Turkish price logic, with imports carrying a visible premium — the local-versus-imported split is in the [grocery prices guide](/en/guide/grocery-prices-north-cyprus/). The upshot for a UK or EU reader: daily life is clearly cheaper than home, but the pound-quoted rent means the biggest line in the budget never gets cheaper just because the lira moves. ## How do you get around month to month? There is no real public-transport answer for a monthly routine — dolmuş minibuses cover the main corridors cheaply but thinly — so the long-stay math is fuel plus wheels. Fuel is lira-priced and Türkiye-level: petrol 95 at **61.12 TL/litre** under the March 2026 decree, with full-tank math in the [fuel prices guide](/en/guide/fuel-prices-north-cyprus/). For the wheels, buying a car only pays off at multi-year horizons; for a semester or a wintering stay, a monthly rental is the middle road. Kipra Rent A Car is a Famagusta-based local company whose 30-plus-day tier prices meaningfully cheaper per day than short rentals, with VAT and third-party insurance included in every displayed price — see the [long-term rental page](/en/long-term-car-rental/) and the live rates for your dates, and [the long-term versus short-term comparison](/en/blog/long-term-vs-short-term-car-rental-north-cyprus/) for when each makes sense. --- Wintering, studying or working remotely from the east coast — price the monthly car against your dates: [book a car](https://app.kiprarent.com/en/book/cars) · WhatsApp +90 546 996 1004 — English spoken. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Is North Cyprus cheap to live in?** Against the UK or EU, yes on most lines — rent, eating out and fuel all undercut them clearly as of 2026. Against Türkiye it is closer to parity: groceries and fuel track Turkish prices, while rents are pound-priced and run higher than comparable Turkish cities. **What is a realistic student budget in Famagusta?** Compiled student guides put 2025–26 totals at €350–687 a month including shared accommodation, with food at €100–180. Treat these as compiled estimates rather than official figures — the shared-room rent level is what makes the low end possible. **Are utilities expensive in North Cyprus?** Electricity is the line to watch: the tariff is tiered, rose 22% in June 2026, and air-conditioning pushes summer usage into the expensive tiers fast. A ~300 kWh month calculates to about 2,180 TL; heavy summer cooling can multiply that. **What currency do you pay living costs in?** Rent is quoted and paid in pounds sterling by convention; electricity, water, internet, mobile and groceries are billed in Turkish lira. Long-stayers effectively run a two-currency budget — GBP for the roof, TRY for everything under it. ## Sources - KIB-TEK — residential electricity tariff (effective 1 June 2026): https://www.kibtek.com/wp-content/uploads/Tarifeler/01062026.pdf - Extend Broadband — FiberNET price list (VAT incl.): https://www.extendbroadband.com/urunler-fibernet.php - Famagusta student cost-of-living compilation (March 2026): https://www.cwu.edu.tr/cost-of-living-in-famagusta-as-a-student/ - Kıbrıs Postası — minimum wage from January 2026: https://www.kibrispostasi.com/c35-KIBRIS_HABERLERI/n588004-asgari-ucret-net-52-bin-738-tl-sadece-asgari-ucret-alana-6-aylik-yarisi-pesin-12-bin-tl-verilecek - Kıbrıs Gazetesi — Famagusta municipal water tariff (2026): https://kibrisgazetesi.com/su-faturalari-cep-yakacak/ - KKTC Central Bank — daily exchange rates (12 June 2026): https://www.kktcmerkezbankasi.org/ --- Kipra Rent A Car — Famagusta, North Cyprus. No-deposit, no-credit-card car rental; VAT + insurance included. Rezervasyon / Booking: https://app.kiprarent.com/book/cars · WhatsApp: +90 546 996 1004