South Korean consumers' confidence fell to the lowest level in nine months in October as the economic outlook remained bleak amid the eurozone debt crisis, the central bank said Friday.

The consumer sentiment index -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 98 for October, down from 99 tallied for September, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The October figure marked the lowest level since the index hit an identical 98 in January, the central bank said.

A reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey, based on a poll of 1,999 households in 56 cities nationwide, was conducted from Oct. 12-19.

The data came as the BOK cut the key rate and its growth outlook in October in the face of growing downside risks to growth, beset by the eurozone debt crisis and China's slowing economy.

The BOK lowered the key rate to 2.75 percent last week, the second rate cut this year. The bank's 2012 and 2013 growth estimates were lowered to 2.4 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

South Korean consumers' inflation expectations remained unchanged in October from the previous month, but they have been on the steady decline since January, data showed.

South Korean consumers forecast in October that inflation would reach an annual average of 3.4 percent over the next 12 months as they did in September, according to the central bank.

Reflecting the easing inflationary pressure, the index gauging consumers' outlook for inflation also fell to 137 in October, down from 139 in September. The index measuring their forecast for interest rates came in at 90 for this month, down from 97 the previous month, it said.

The BOK narrowed the inflation target band to 2.5-3.5 percent for 2013-2015 and removed the mid-point inflation target for the new range to prevent inflation expectations from being anchored over the long haul. (Yonhap News)