South Korea's consumer sentiment declined in October, dented by the latest financial turmoil and concerns over a global recession, the central bank said Tuesday.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the consumer survey index (CSI), which measures consumers' overall sense of their economic outlook, living conditions and future spending, dropped to 88 in October, compared with 96 in September, Yonhap News said.

"Consumer sentiment was severely hit by falling asset values following financial turbulence and growing concerns over a global recession," the BOK said in a statement.

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey of 2,200 households in 56 major cities was conducted Oct. 14-21.

The report came one day after the BOK made an emergency rate cut by 0.75 percentage point, its largest cut ever, to 4.25 percent in a bid to keep global financial turmoil from sharply slowing the real economy.

The South Korean economy grew 0.6 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier, the slowest growth in four years, due to sluggish domestic demand and lagging export growth.

South Korea's stock and foreign exchange markets have been volatile as foreign investors pull money out of the Korean markets.

The country's key stock index has fallen more than 45 percent so far this year after reaching an all-time high of 2,064.85 in late October last year. The local currency has declined about 35 percent against the U.S. dollar so far this year.