in the absence of

To write plainly and concisely, use without instead of the roundabout phrase in the absence of. Other possibilities include having no, lacking, minus, not having and with no.

• Wordy: In the absence of reliable data, these figures are only estimates.
• Concise: Without reliable data, these figures are only estimates.
• Concise: Having no reliable data, we present these figures only as estimates.
• Concise: Lacking reliable data, we present these figures only as estimates.