Inflation climbed to 5.4% last month, its highest rate since March 1992, as Britain’s cost of living squeeze intensified, official figures show.
The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation, up from 5.1% in November, was higher than economists had expected.
It comes a day after official data showed wage rises for UK workers are already being wiped out by the surge in prices.
Further upward pressure on inflation is expected in April when a new energy price cap could see bills for millions of households hiked by 50%.
The surge in the cost of living is putting pressure on the Bank of England to take further action – having already raised interest rates from 0.1% to 0.25% last month.