As shown in Table VIII, Commonwealth countries in the aggregate provided each other in 1973 with markets for 20 per cent of their exports—down a single percentage point, in round numbers, from the previous year. The share of the United States in total Commonwealth exports dropped 2 percentage points, to 29 per cent, though remaining by far the largest single country market. The balancing increases in share were recorded by the EEC (Eight) and Japan, the latter's share having gone up at an astonishingly rapid pace to reach 9 per cent in 1973, from only 6 per cent in 1971.