In economics, the concept of scarcity refers to the limited availability of goods and services in comparison to consumer demand. It is a fundamental element of economic theory and suggests that society has to make choices about how it allocates resources. Scarce resources are those for which there is a deficiency in relation to what people want. This could include things such as natural resources, land, energy, and money. As these resources become harder to come by, the cost of producing them rises and the price at which they can be sold increases. People must then make trade-offs between competing demands for these scarce resources.