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Thailand's consumer inflation increased at a faster-than-expected pace of 7.1 per cent year-on-year in May, the highest level since July 2008, on soaring energy and food prices, official data revealed.

Growth of the country's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, exceeded April's 4.65 per cent and beat a market expectation of 5.78 per cent for May, reports Xinhua news agency.

On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 1.4 per cent from April, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The Ministry attributed the CPI growth to higher food prices and energy costs, which surged 37.24 per cent from one year earlier in May.

The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, was up 2.28 per cent year-on-year, also beating a forecast of 2.2 per cent.

The Ministry expected the CPI growth to further accelerate in June and average at 4.5 per cent for the whole year of 2022.

During the first five months of the year, the CPI climbed 5.19 per cent from a year earlier, while the core CPI grew 1.72 per cent year-on-year.

The country's CPI growth has remained above the Bank of Thailand's 2022 target range of 1-3 per cent for five consecutive months.

The central bank had raised its inflation forecast for this year to 4.9 per cent, up from the projection of 1.7 per cent it made in December 2021.