JAKARTA: Indonesia recorded a total of 744 trillion rupiah ($47.34 billion) of foreign direct investment last year, up 13.7% on an annual basis, the investment ministry said on Wednesday.

However, growth in the fourth quarter slowed sharply to 5.3% from the same period a year earlier, compared with the third quarter’s growth of 16.2%.

Total FDI in the October-December period stood at 184.4 trillion rupiah.

The ministry’s data exclude investment in financial and oil and gas sectors and are reported in rupiah terms.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy has seen strong FDI growth after the pandemic, particularly as investment in its nickel processing industry booms.

Indonesia 2023 exports fell 11.33%

The base metal industry received the biggest FDI last year at $11.8 billion, while mining was in fourth place with $4.7 billion.

Other sectors that benefited from FDI included warehousing and telecommunications, and pharmaceutical and pulp and paper.

Singapore, China and Hong Kong were the biggest FDI sources in 2023.