The increase in inflation comes well before a surge expected to result from last week's devaluation of the currency. The central bank on Wednesday allowed the Egyptian pound to fall to about 50 to the dollar from 30.85, where it had been fixed for the past 12 months.
A poll of 14 analysts had expected February inflation to slow to a median 25.1%. Before February, Egypt's inflation rate had been falling from a historic high of 38.0% in September.
Month-on-month, prices rose by 11.4% in February, up from just 1.6% in January. Food prices leapt by 15.9%, up from 1.4% in January.
"The sharp rise in the annual reading was fuelled by a surge in monthly inflation of both food (F&B) and non-food items and was in spite of the favourable base year contribution of -5.5%," Allen Sandeep of Naeem Brokerage said in a note.
Core inflation, which excludes fuel and some volatile food items, rose to 35.1% in February from 29% in January, the central bank said later on Sunday.
(Reporting by Adam Makary; Writing by Patrick Werr; Editing by William Mallard, Louise Heavens and Giles Elgood)
