Due to a combination of unstable political situations in its range, and its nocturnal, arboreal lifestyle, population data for the pygmy slow loris are scarce. The population in China has been estimated at less than 500 individuals. In the 1980s, one estimate placed the population at roughly 72,000 individuals, while another estimate from the same period placed the number around 600–700 individuals. This enormous discrepancy underlines the difficulty to calculate population size without detailed field studies. In Laos, the wildlife status report of 1999 describes the species as "little known" and "common", based on availability of potential habitat. In 2020 the IUCN classified the pygmy slow loris as endangered, as did the Vietnam Red Data Book the same year. The European Union (EU) (2005) describes the population status in Laos as "apparently widespread, but not common anywhere".