Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue sets a record with 107 million visitors

Istanbul‘s world-famous Istiklal Avenue broke its all-time record in 2025 by attracting 107 million visitors, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year. At the same time, another major shopping street in Istanbul, Bağdat Street, continued to establish itself as a key shopping destination in the city, while the Nişantaşı neighborhood saw a sharp decline due to the drop in foreign tourists.

According to a report by the U.S. consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield, which analyzed the areas of Bağdat Caddesi, İstiklal Caddesi, and Nişantaşı, the former reached an all-time high with 107 million visitors, surpassing the previous record — set in 2022 — of 91.8 million, as reported by the Turkish news network TRT Haber. Daily foot traffic reached nearly 240,000 visitors on weekdays — a 13% increase — while on weekends it reached 427,000 people per day, a 27% increase.

Of the 275 available storefronts on Istiklal Avenue, 265 were occupied by active businesses, with clothing stores predominating, accounting for 35% of the total. These were followed by food and beverage businesses, representing 31%, while the cosmetics sector accounted for 15%. Additionally, 85% of the brands were local, compared to a 15% presence of foreign firms. As for the rental prices of prime retail spaces, they stood at around $220 per square meter per month.

In the Asian part of the city, Bağdat Avenue also recorded notable growth and continues to establish itself as one of Istanbul’s main shopping districts, with a year-over-year increase in visits of 31.2% to reach 41.2 million visitors. This commercial thoroughfare, which brings together local, international, and luxury brands, saw the daily number of visitors grow last year by 19.5% on weekdays to reach 104,000, and by 61.2% on weekends to reach 137,000. Here, prime rents reached $180 per square meter.

In contrast to the growth experienced by Istiklal Avenue and Bağdat Street, the Nişantaşı area — a neighborhood located in the Şişli district on the European side of Istanbul — suffered a sharp decline in 2025, with a 59.4% drop, bringing its visitor count to 14.6 million people. This decline is mainly attributed to the drop in visits by foreign tourists, particularly those from Arab countries, who traditionally accounted for a significant portion of its shoppers. In this case, foot traffic in this neighborhood fell by 50% on weekdays and 72% on weekends.

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