scarcity

Etymology

From Old Northern French escarcete; by surface analysis, scarce + -ity.

noun

1. (uncountable) The condition of something being scarce or deficient.
   Praise […] owes its value only to its scarcity. July 6, 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 136
   To understand the events of the next fifty years, then, one must understand environmental scarcity, cultural and racial clash, geographic destiny, and the transformation of war. 1994 February, Robert D. Kaplan, “The Coming Anarchy”, in The Atlantic
2. (countable) An inadequate amount of something; a shortage.
   a scarcity of grain
   The crucial and intersecting challenges of scarcities, both emerging and intensifying, will consume China’s custodians over the next decade. 2013-09-24, Damien Ma, William Adams, “China's Next Great Challenge: Scarcity”, in The Atlantic