This is a successor to bug 53399 (a MAB for LibO 3.6), tracking a "not-so-most-annoying" remaining technical glitch. Bug 53399 has been closed. Recipe: 1. Create a new text document. 2. Type-in the words: This is a test sentence. 3. Open the word count dialogue. Word count in both, dialogue and status line, shows 5 words. 4. Select the space between 'a' and 'test'. 5. Replace selection by a non-breaking space by pressing Shift+Ctrl+Space. Don't move the cursor. Word count in dialogue shows 4 words, wheras in the status line it shows 5 words. 6. Move the cursor by pressing Left. Word count in both, dialogue and status line, shows 5 words. Tested with LibO 3.6.2.1 (Build ID: ba822cc) on Windows 7 x64.
Confirmed on LibreOffice 3.6.2.2 on Ubuntu in fr_FR.
I can confirm it's not reproducible on LO 4.0.4.2 (Win7 32bit). Perhaps it's been fixed.