| Event: | Women's singles |
| Championship: | 2021 BWF World Championships |
| Dates: | 12–19 December |
| Venue: | Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín |
| Location: | Huelva, Spain |
| Gold: | Akane Yamaguchi |
| Gold Nation: | JPN |
| Silver: | Tai Tzu-ying |
| Silver Nation: | TPE |
| Bronze: | He Bingjiao |
| Bronze Nation: | CHN |
| Bronze2: | Zhang Yiman |
| Bronze2 Nation: | CHN |
| Prev: | 2019 Basel |
| Next: | 2022 Tokyo |
The women's singles tournament of the 2021 BWF World Championships took place from 12 to 19 December 2021 at the Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín at Huelva.[1]
P. V. Sindhu was the defending champion, but she lost to Tai Tzu-Ying in the quarterfinals. This also guaranteed Tai Tzu-Ying's first medal of world championships.
The seeding list is based on the World Rankings of 23 November 2021.[2]
Akane Yamaguchi (champion) Nozomi Okuhara (withdrew)
Carolina Marín (withdrew)
An Se-young (quarter-finals)
P. V. Sindhu (quarter-finals)
Ratchanok Intanon (quarter-finals)
He Bingjiao (semi-finals) Pornpawee Chochuwong (third round)
Michelle Li (third round) Busanan Ongbamrungphan (second round) Sayaka Takahashi (third round) Wang Zhiyi (third round)
Yeo Jia Min (second round) Kim Ga-eun (third round)