Canada's consumer inflation in February soared 5.7% annually – its largest increase since August 1991, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

While the annual increase was expected to come in at 5.5%, according to market consensus, annual consumer inflation in January stood at 5.1%.

It is the second consecutive month that the annual consumer price index (CPI) in the country exceeded 5%.

"Consumers paid higher prices for gasoline and groceries in February 2022 compared with the same month a year earlier. Shelter costs continued to trend higher, rising at the fastest year-over-year pace since August 1983," the agency said in a statement.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 1% in February, the largest increase since February 2013.

Market expectation for monthly CPI was to increase 0.9% in February after rising 0.9% in January from the previous month.

Excluding gasoline prices, CPI in February rose 4.7% year-on-year, surpassing the 4.3% gain in January when it increased at the fastest pace since 1999.

"Canadian motorists paid 32.3% more at the pump compared with February 2021," said Statistics Canada.

"Monthly gasoline prices increased 6.9% amid geopolitical conflict in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as uncertainty surrounding global oil supply put upward pressure on prices," it added.

The Bank of Canada on March 2 increased its interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.5% to tame record-high inflation. This was the first rate hike by the central bank since October 2018.