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Economics vocabulary · Markets, Supply and Demand

Shortage

Meaning in economics, with examples

/ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ/nounCore term

In economics, shortage means: A situation in which buyers want more of a product than sellers offer at the current price, often because the price is held below equilibrium.

In Turkish: kıtlık, arz açığı, eksiklik

How it is used

In theory it is also called excess demand. In the news: a shortage of workers, housing, chips or medicine. Shortages ease or worsen and can lead to queues and rationing. Price ceilings set below the market price often cause shortages.

Example sentences

  1. A shortage of skilled workers is slowing down construction projects.

  2. When the government capped rents below the market rate, a housing shortage followed.

Common collocations

  • a shortage of
  • housing shortage
  • labour shortage
  • severe shortage
  • chronic shortage
  • surplusAn amount left over: in a market, more supply than demand at the current price; in public finance or trade, more income than spending.
  • equilibriumA situation in which supply and demand are equal, so there is no pressure for the price or the quantity to change.
  • scarcityThe basic problem that resources such as time, money, land and labour are limited while people's wants are not, so choices always have to be made.
  • supplyThe amount of a good or service that producers are willing and able to sell at each possible price during a given period.

More terms: Markets, Supply and Demand

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.