Indonesia booked 196.2 trillion rupiah ($12.4 billion) worth of foreign direct investment in the third quarter, up 16.2% from a year earlier, according to data on Friday from its investment ministry, which kept records in rupiah terms.

Using the ministry's official conversion, the third-quarter FDI was equivalent to $13.3 billon. The data excludes investment in banking and the oil and gas sectors.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has seen a jump in FDI in recent years as it attracts investment in the mineral processing industry, though authorities have cautioned that elections in February may put a pause on companies' investment decisions.

The ministry's data showed an acceleration in the third quarter FDI growth. FDI rose 14.2% on a yearly basis in the second quarter.

"Despite entering a political year, global (investors) have placed great confidence in us," Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said in a news conference.

He said the outlook for the remainder of the year was clouded by rising geopolitical tensions, including the conflict in the Middle East.

Including from domestic sources, the ministry recorded a total of 374.4 trillion rupiah worth of direct investment in the July-September quarter, up 21.6% year-on-year.

Some 30% of the total investment went into industries that process Indonesia's natural resources, the ministry said.

These include progress on a petrochemical plant South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp is building in the town of Cilegon on the northwestern shores of Java island, and Freeport Indonesia's copper smelter in Gresik, East Java.

The biggest recipient of FDI was the base metals industry, which received $3.3 billion of investment, followed by chemical and pharmaceutical industry and mining.

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

($1=15,845.0000 rupiah)

(Additional reporting and writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty and Lincoln Feast)