The economy of Isan, Thailand's largest region, composed of 20 provinces in the northeast, is dominated by agriculture, although agricultural output is low and decreasing in importance while the trade and service sectors are growing. Much of the population is poor and badly educated. Many labourers have been driven by poverty to seek work in other parts of Thailand or abroad. Isan accounts for around a third of Thailand's population and a third of its area. In 2013 it contributed 10.9 percent of the kingdom's GDP. The gross regional product (GRP) per capita in 2013 was 74,532 baht per year, the lowest of all Thai regions, 5.8 times lower than that of the leading eastern region. Politically-driven upturn The first decade of the 21st century saw improvements in Isan's economy. Economic growth in the region reached 40 percent from 2007 to 2011, versus 23 percent for the country as a whole, and just 17 percent for greater Bangkok. Monthly household income rose 40 percent between 2007 and 2011, the biggest jump of any Thai region. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to power in 2001 and initiated a series of populist policies—-from virtually free healthcare to low-interest loans to the rural poor—that stimulated Isan's economy. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup, but his sister, Yingluck was elected prime minister in 2011. The economic renaissance of Isan coincided with the expansionary policies, from wage increases to farm subsidies, that were begun by Thaksin and continued by his sister. Yingluck's government brought in a nationwide minimum wage of 300 baht a day in January 2013. In some Isan provinces, that was an increase of 35 percent, among the biggest gains in the country, on top of a nationwide 40 percent increase in April 2012. Yingluck was deposed in early-2014 and replaced by a military government in May. The military government's economic initiatives of 2016 call for two trillion baht (US$57 billion) to be fast-tracked into nationwide infrastructure projects. Only 10 percent of the funds are allocated to projects in Isan despite its accounting for 33 percent of the population. The majority will be spent on a new Khorat-Bangkok motorway. Economy Agriculture is the biggest sector of the economy. The following table shows the percentage of gross regional product (GRP) by sector in 2013: For FY 2018, Northeastern Thailand Region had a combined economic output of 1,559 trillion baht (US$50.3 billion), or