Estimates of abundance exist for several areas. The northern form off Japan has a subpopulation estimated at 4,000–5,000, and the southern form has an estimated subpopulation of about 14,000 in coastal waters (Miyashita 1993). Dolar et al. (2006) estimated abundances in the Philippines: eastern Sulu Sea - 7,492 (CV = 29%); Tañon Strait - 179 (CV = 96%). There are an estimated 589,000 (CV=26%) Short-finned Pilot Whales in the eastern tropical Pacific (Gerrodette and Forcada 2002), and an estimated 304 (CV=102%) in waters off the North American west coast (Barlow 2003). In Hawaiian waters, there are estimated to be 8,846 (CV=49%) (Barlow 2006). The Gulf of Mexico contains at least 2,388 (CV=48%) animals (Mullin and Fulling 2004), and 31,139 (CV=27%) pilot whales of both species are estimated to occur in the western North Atlantic (Waring et al. 2006).

Trend data are not available throughout the range of the species; however, abundance estimates of short-finned pilot whales in the eastern tropical Pacific significantly increased from 1986–1990 to 1998–2000 (Gerrodette and Forcada 2002). There is no information on global trends in the abundance of this species.

Unknown