A Warm Climate & a Battered Economy in Türkiye in 2026

Türkiye may offer expats sunny weather, but the worst working conditions anywhere and a struggling economy weigh heavily.

➡️You’re welcome to use these 2026 Expat Insider results. Please remember to credit InterNations as the source, and where possible, include a link to www.internations.org.

In this article:

In Brief
Sunshine Can’t Solve Everything
No Expat Bubble in Türkiye
The Worst Place to Work
Squeezed Finances
Restricted Online Life & Hard Admin
The Typical Expat in Türkiye
External Resources
Further Reading

In Brief

Türkiye lands in the bottom 3 countries in the Expat Insider 2026 survey, ranking 29th out of 31 destinations.

Its best result is the Ease of Settling In Index (18th), with notably weaker showings for Quality of Life (27th), Personal Finance (27th), and Expat Essentials (28th). In the Working Abroad Index, Türkiye ranks dead last (31st). All things considered, about three in five expats (58%) are happy with life there, well below the 70% global average.

Sunshine Can’t Solve Everything

Türkiye’s brighter notes are its climate and its people. Within a 27th-place Quality of Life result, the country ranks 8th for climate and weather, with over seven in ten expats (71%) satisfied (vs. 58% globally).

Opinion

I like the food, the nature and scenery within the country, and that Istanbul is a central hub for international travel abroad. (Australian expat in Istanbul)

Opinion

Türkiye also does well for the availability of public transport (9th) and healthcare (13th). The latter’s quality (18th) and Türkiye’s culture and nightlife (15th) are mostly average. However, this is already the end of the good news when it comes to the Quality of Life Index, where Türkiye places 27th overall.

A lack of recreational sporting opportunities (29th), expensive healthcare (23rd), and a dissatisfying urban environment (31st) weigh heavily. What’s more, over a third (34%) rate the political stability in the country negatively, double the global average of 17%. And not even two in five (37%) agree that they can openly express themselves and their opinions (vs. 64% globally).

No Expat Bubble in Türkiye

Finding your feet socially is less of an issue in Türkiye: the country receives its strongest — though still very average — result in the Ease of Settling In Index (18th). Expats rate Türkiye 13th for feeling at home and 15th for making local friends, which about two in five (41%) find easy (vs. 39% globally).

Correspondingly, respondents in Türkiye are less likely than the global average to say their friends are mostly other expats (29% vs. 37% globally). However, only 44% are happy with their social life. That’s 10 percentage points below the global average (54%).

The Worst Place to Work

Work is Türkiye’s defining weakness. The country ranks last (31st) in the Working Abroad Index — so it’s good news that only a quarter (25%) say they moved there for job-related reasons (vs. 33% globally).

The state of the economy is a particular sore point (31st), with over three in five expats (61%) rating it negatively, more than three times the global average (20%). Close to a quarter (22%) even give this factor the worst possible rating (vs. 4%).

Working hours (31st), workplace flexibility (31st), and overall job satisfaction (30th) rank near or at the bottom too — despite a full-time week that is actually shorter than average (40.8 vs. 42.2 hours globally).

Fewer than two in five expats (39%) rate their personal career opportunities positively (vs. 52% globally). Rather, 41% regard the lobal job market negatively (vs. 34%).

Squeezed Finances

Türkiye ranks 27th in the Personal Finance Index. Only about a quarter of expats (23%) rate the cost of living positively (vs. 39% globally), and close to two in five (39%) disagree that their disposable household income is enough to lead a comfortable life (vs. 29%).

Opinion

The high cost of living in Türkiye is currently a burden on everyone. (Syrian expat in Istanbul)

Opinion

Incomes run low — over a third (34%) earn below 12,000 USD a year, double the 15% global share — while annual inflation in Türkiye stood at 32.11% in June 2026.¹

The country’s 24th place for expats’ financial satisfaction in general is therefore hardly surprising.

Restricted Online Life & Hard Admin

Practical life can be difficult, with Türkiye placing 28th in the Expat Essentials Index. Respondents are dissatisfied when it comes to getting high-speed internet set up (28th), and only about half (54%) agree that online services are accessible without any restrictions (vs. 83% globally).

At least the online availability of administrative and government services is not the worst (19th), though that doesn’t mean that expats find it easy to deal with the bureaucracy in general (26th). In fact, not even one in five respondents (19%) give this factor a positive rating, half the global average of 38%. Consequently, Türkiye only ranks 25th for Admin Topics — though according to expats, at least getting a visa isn’t particularly difficult (13th).

What is a worry, though, is the language barrier. More than half the respondents (52%) named this as a concern before their move to Türkiye, 20 percentage points more than the global average (32%). And indeed, once in the country, more than two in five (41%) find it difficult to get by without local language skills (vs. 34% globally) — bad news for the 55% of expats who say they can’t speak Turkish at all or only a little (vs. 37%).

Among all these negatives, the ease of finding housing is a (relative) bright spot at 14th place.