Izmir: a Turkish Aegean-coast Big Mac with a tourism flavor
Izmir, on Turkey's Aegean coast, posts a Big Mac price below Istanbul and slightly below Ankara. The city is Turkey's third-largest, with an economy anchored by the port, light manufacturing, and a substantial tourism sector. Izmir prices have moved with the lira's depreciation alongside the rest of Turkey, but the absolute price level remains lower than the country's two larger cities.
For Big Mac Index analysts, Izmir's distinctive feature is its seasonal-tourism component. Summer months bring meaningful demand from European visitors to the broader Aegean coast, and Izmir restaurant prices show measurable seasonality that Istanbul and Ankara don't. Watch the Izmir summer-versus-winter spread as a clean read on European tourism flows into Turkey — which have been politically and economically meaningful through the post-2022 EU-Turkey relationship cycles.