Projectification has become a buzzword. Although repeated claims of an increasing projectification were often supported by illustrative, case-based evidence, a systematic and complete measurement of projectification of an entire economy - including all sectors and project types - is still missing. A more precise and reliable measurement of the degree of projectification can be helpful for underlying the importance of project management both for research and practice. This paper presents the results of a comparative study in three Western economies: Germany, Norway, and Iceland. Projectification was measured as the share of project work on total work. This allows for a systematic comparison between countries and sectors. We show that although differences exist among the countries regarding their size and industry structure, the share of project work in advanced economies seems to be about one third. However, comparing the different countries demonstrates that important differences exist for individual sectors. •A complete measurement of the degree of projectification of the German, the Norwegian and the Icelandic economy.•Measurement includes all sectors of the economy and all project types.•Projectification is 34.7% in Germany, 32.6% in Norway, and 27.7% in Iceland.•Results suggest that in advanced economies around one third of all economic activities is project work.•The comparison of the three economies reveals major differences on the level of individual sectors.