UK inflation climbed to a new 40-year high last month, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed today.
May's consumer price index (CPI) was up 9.1% compared to the same period last year, the highest since 1982 and up from 9% the month before.
With further rises in household energy bills still to come, inflation is expected to climb even higher to around 11% this autumn.
Core CPI, which excludes food and fuel prices, was up 5.9%, down from 6.2% in April.
CPIH, the Bank of England's preferred measure, was up 7.9% in May from 7.8% in April.
Market analyst Naeem Aslam at AvaTrade said: "Inflation readings in the UK are moving in one direction which is to the upside and pushing consumers further and further in the corner.
"Today’s economic data suggests that things are likely to become a lot more ugly in the UK and lawmakers really need to get their act together if [they] want to see save the save UK economy from a major depression."
Asda reported shoppers are setting £30 limits at checkouts and petrol pumps to cut back on their spending and also switching to budget ranges.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said the prices of goods leaving factories rose at their fastest rate in 45 years in May, driven by "widespread food price rises".
Raw material costs, meanwhile, are rising at “their fastest rate on record", Fitzner added.
Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, added: “Another factor bumping up inflation in May was mortgage costs, with the successive Bank of England base rate hikes pushing up mortgage rates and leading to the largest increase in costs for homeowners since 1999."