Why Does an iPhone Cost $1,755 in Turkey?

If you walk into an Apple Store in Istanbul and pick up an iPhone 15 128GB, you'll pay approximately ₺57,999 — which converts to about $1,755 USD. In the United States, the same phone costs $799. That's a 120% markup.

Breaking Down the Cost

The price difference isn't Apple being greedy (well, not entirely). Here's where the extra money goes:

• Import tariff: ~20% customs duty on electronics
• Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV): 50% on phones priced above a threshold
• VAT (KDV): 20% on top of everything
• TRT contribution fee: ~10% for Turkey's public broadcaster
• Currency buffer: Apple sets prices with a buffer against lira volatility

The Math

Starting from Apple's base price of ~$799:

$799 × 1.20 (customs) × 1.50 (ÖTV) × 1.20 (VAT) × 1.10 (TRT) ≈ $1,900

The actual street price of $1,755 shows Apple absorbs some of the cost, but the consumer still pays more than double the US price.

It's Not Just Turkey

High-tax countries like Brazil ($1,498), India ($1,099), and Indonesia ($1,149) also see significant iPhone premiums. This is precisely why the Burger Parity Score uses a multi-product basket — a country can be "cheap" for food but "expensive" for technology.

Turkey's iPhone price is a spectacular example of how tax policy can make a globally standardized product feel like a luxury item.

What This Means for BPS

Because the iPhone carries equal weight (16.7%) in our basket, Turkey's BPS is pulled up by tech prices even though food, transport, and entertainment are cheap. This is by design — it gives a more honest picture of total cost of living.