A method for performing packet loss concealment of lost packets in Voice over IP (Internet Protocol) speech transmission. Statistical n-gram models are initially created with use of a training speech corpus, and then, packets lost during transmission are advantageously replaced based on these models. In particular, the existence of statistical patterns in successive voice over IP (VoIP) packets is advantageously exploited by first using conventional vector quantization (VQ) techniques to quantize the parameter data for each packet with use of a corresponding VQ index, and then determining statistical correlations between consecutive sequences of such VQ indices representative of the corresponding sequences of n packets. The statistic n-gram predictive models so created are then used to predict parameter data for use in representing lost data packets.