Government · UK · Office for National Statistics
UK Cost-of-Living Squeeze Eases to 66%: ONS May 2026
The ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey for May 2026 finds the share of UK adults reporting a month-on-month rise in their cost of living fell to 66%, down from 79% in April. The squeeze is easing, but most households are still trading down, with 61% cutting non-essentials and 40% shopping around more.
Source published Summarised
Key findings at a glance
- 66% of UK adults said their cost of living had risen compared with a month earlier in May 2026
- 79% had reported the same monthly rise in April 2026, so cost pressure eased sharply
- 89% named the cost of living as the most important issue facing the UK
- 63% were very or somewhat worried about rising costs of living
- 69% of adults aged 30 to 49 were worried about rising costs, the most anxious age band
- 93% of those facing higher costs blamed the price of food shopping
- 77% of those facing higher costs blamed the price of fuel
- 61% of all adults responded by spending less on non-essentials
- 41% responded by spending less on food shopping and essentials
- 40% responded by shopping around more for better prices
- 70% agreed their household income covers their minimum living expenses
- 25% said their household could not cover an unexpected expense of 850 pounds
What the report covers
Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: May 2026 is the latest monthly release from the Office for National Statistics Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), the household panel that tracks how people across Great Britain feel about the economy, their finances and daily life. This edition covers data collected between 6 and 31 May 2026 from 3,780 responding adults.
The headline measures cover cost-of-living pressure, financial resilience and worries about international conflict. For the first time in months the direction of travel is positive: the proportion of adults reporting that their cost of living had increased over the previous month fell to 66%, down from 79% in April and broadly back in line with the 62% recorded a year earlier.
The behavioural data underneath that headline is what matters for anyone selling to UK consumers. It shows how households are still adjusting their spending even as the squeeze loosens, and it sits alongside the longer-run picture in our report on UK household spending in the 2025 financial year.
What this means for UK marketers
The easing in cost-of-living pressure is real, but marketers should read it as a thaw rather than a recovery. The share of adults reporting a monthly rise in their costs dropped 13 points, yet 63% are still worried about rising prices and 89% rank the cost of living as the country's biggest issue. Sentiment has improved from a low base, not returned to comfort.
The defensive behaviours are the part that should shape campaigns. With 61% spending less on non-essentials, 41% cutting back on food and essentials, and 40% actively shopping around for better prices, value and price transparency are still doing the heavy lifting in the buying decision. Brands that buried price, padded out delivery costs or leaned on urgency tactics through the worst of the squeeze will find those shoppers have learned to compare, and the 40% who now shop around are unlikely to stop.
There is an age signal worth planning around too. Adults aged 30 to 49, often the core spending and family-formation demographic, are the most worried at 69%. If that group is your audience, reassurance, clear value and flexible payment messaging will land harder than aspiration. We covered the previous month's figures in our April cost-of-living report, and this month-on-month easing is the first clear sign the mood is turning.
Practically, this is a moment to test slightly more confident messaging while keeping the value scaffolding in place: lead with the benefit, prove the price, and make comparison easy rather than fighting it. For UK brands rebuilding demand as confidence returns, our digital marketing services focus on exactly that balance of acquisition and margin.
How they got the data
The figures come from the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. For the 6 to 31 May 2026 period the ONS sampled 8,770 households drawn from previous respondents to the Transformed Labour Force Survey and the OPN, and received 3,780 individual responses, a 43% response rate. Estimates are weighted to be representative of the adult population of Great Britain aged 16 and over, using 2024 mid-year population estimates.
Estimates for smaller subgroups, such as younger adults, carry wider uncertainty, and the ONS publishes confidence intervals alongside every figure. Full detail on sampling, weighting and quality is set out in the survey's Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Quality and Methodology Information.
Government · UK
Read the full report
From Office for National Statistics · published 19/06/2026