Paucity
Etymology
From Latin paucitas, "fewness," from paucus, "few, little" (a relative of the root behind "few" itself). It came into English through French. The word tends to a measured, almost clinical register — a paucity of evidence or of options rather than a life-threatening lack.
noun · /PAW-sih-tee/
Smallness of quantity or number; a scarcity or insufficiency.
What it names
The condition of there being too few of something, with the stress on fewness of count rather than the drama of famine.
Example
The study was undermined by a paucity of data: only nine participants completed it.
Related idea
Dearth implies a painful shortage of something essential; paucity is cooler and more quantitative, simply marking that there is not much of something.