When comparing the euro area with other major industrialised economies, we see that the direct contribution from ICT capital increased everywhere between 1980 and 1995 and between 1995 and 2005, but remained at a higher level in the United States than in the euro area.
In this respect, it is commonly acknowledged that the higher TFP growth, in particular in the US, reflects at least partly the spillovers from the development and adoption of ICT technologies as a so-called “general purpose technology” that affects the entire production sector.