Can double deflation explain the ICT growth miracle?

•I investigate labor productivity in the ICT-industry in ten countries in 1995-2010.•Productivity differs substantially in the ICT-industry across countries.•The Swedish and Dutch ICT-industry differs by over 14 000 percentage points.•Double deflation is an important explanation to the apparent Swedish ICT miracle.•The high productivity in the Swedish ICT-industry is partly a statistical illusion.

It is unclear why productivity growth in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry differs considerably among countries. This paper shows that, for Sweden, it is primarily the use of the double deflation method that has created the apparent ICT-miracle.