| Winner: | Pilín León |
| Represented: | Venezuela |
| Date: | 12 November 1981 |
| Presenters: | Peter Marshall, Judith Chalmers |
| Acts: | Helen Reddy |
| Venue: | Royal Albert Hall, London, UK |
| Broadcaster: | Thames Television |
| Entrants: | 67 |
| Placements: | 15 |
| Returns: | Chile, El Salvador, Iceland, Suriname, Tahiti |
| Withdraws: | Mauritius, Panama, Paraguay, Swaziland, US Virgin Islands |
| Before: | 1980 |
| Next: | 1982 |
Miss World 1981, the 31st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 12 November 1981 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK.[1] [2] The winner was Pilín León from Venezuela,[2] the first titleholder from her country since 1955. She was crowned by Miss World 1980, Kimberley Santos of Guam. Another Venezuelan, Irene Sáez, had been crowned Miss Universe 1981 in July, making Venezuela one of the few countries to hold both major international titles (Miss Universe and Miss World) in the same year. The Continental Queens of Beauty were awarded for the first time.
| Placement | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Miss World 1981 | ||
| 1st runner-up |
| |
| 2nd runner-up |
| |
| Top 7 |
| |
| Top 15 |
| Continental Group | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Africa |
| |
| Americas | ||
| Asia |
| |
| Europe |
| |
| Oceania |
67 contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helen Natali | 21 | Villa María | ||
| Gerarda Roepel | 24 | Oranjestad | ||
| 19 | Mosman | |||
| Beatrix Kopf | 21 | Lustenau | ||
| Monique Ferguson | 18 | Nassau | ||
| Dominique van Eeckhoudt | 19 | Waterloo | ||
| Cymone Tucker | 21 | Smith's Parish | ||
| Carolina Díaz | 17 | Pando | ||
| Maristela Grazzia | 17 | São Paulo | ||
| Earla Stewart | 22 | Pembroke | ||
| Donna Marie Myrie | 20 | George Town | ||
| Susanna Bravo | 19 | Santiago | ||
| Nini Johanna Soto | 18 | Bucaramanga | ||
| Sucetty Salas | 18 | San José | ||
| Mylene Gerard | 21 | Willemstad | ||
| Elena Andreou | 19 | Nicosia | ||
| Tina Brandstrup | 21 | Copenhagen | ||
| Josefina Cuello | 24 | Santo Domingo | ||
| Lucía Vinueza | 19 | Guayaquil | ||
| Martha Alicia Ortíz | 19 | San Salvador | ||
| Pia Nieminen | 20 | Tampere | ||
| Isabelle Benard | 19 | Vernon | ||
| Barbara Reimund | 18 | Stuttgart | ||
| Yvette Maria Bellido | 18 | Gibraltar | ||
| Maria Argyrokastritou | 22 | Athens | ||
| Rebecca Arroyo | 21 | Mangilao | ||
| Beatriz Bojorquez | 23 | Guatemala City | ||
| Saskia Lemmers | 23 | Amsterdam | ||
| Xiomara Sikaffy | 20 | San Pedro Sula | ||
| Winnie Chin | 18 | Hong Kong Island | ||
| Ásdís Hannesdóttir | 23 | Reykjavík | ||
| 22 | Bengaluru | |||
| Geraldine McGrory | 22 | Derry | ||
| Nicola-Jane Grainger | 18 | Dalby | ||
| Ninnette Assor | 22 | Tel-Aviv | ||
| Marisa Tutone | 17 | Turin | ||
| Sandra Cunningham[3] | 24 | Kingston | ||
| Naomi Kishi | 18 | Kawasaki | ||
| Elizabeth Walmsley | 18 | Saint Helier | ||
| Lee Han-na | 19 | Seoul | ||
| Zeina Challita | 19 | Beirut | ||
| Palesa Joyce Kalele | 18 | Maseru | ||
| Cynthia de Castro | 20 | Malacca | ||
| Elizabeth-Mary Fenech | 19 | Żebbuġ | ||
| Doris Pontvianne | 18 | Tampico | ||
| Raewyn Marcroft | 18 | Waikato | ||
| Anita Nesbø | 20 | Akershus | ||
| Jennifer Abaijah | 19 | Port Moresby | ||
| Olga Zumarán | 22 | Lima | ||
| Suzette Nicolas | 24 | Manila | ||
| Andrenira Ruíz | 19 | San Juan | ||
| Sushil Kaur Sandhu | 20 | Singapore | ||
| Cristina Pérez Cottrell | 18 | Málaga | ||
| Sonya Elizabeth Tucker | 20 | Colombo | ||
| Joan Boldewijn | 18 | Paramaribo | ||
| Carita Gustafsson | 20 | Gothenburg | ||
| Margrit Kilchoer | 22 | Geneva | ||
| Maimiti Kinnander | 20 | Huahine | ||
 Thailand | Massupha Karbprapun | 21 | Bangkok | |
| Rachael Thomas | 21 | Diego Martin | ||
| 18 | Kilis | |||
| Michele Donnelly | 20 | Cardiff | ||
| Lisa Moss | 23 | Shreveport | ||
| Marianela Bas | 23 | Montevideo | ||
 Venezuela | Pilin León | 18 | Maracay | |
| Julianna Curry | 17 | Apia | ||
| Juliet Nyathi | 24 | Bulawayo |
Colombia
Jamaica
Australia
Brazil
United Kingdom
United States
Argentina
Belgium
Canada
Ireland
Japan
Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago
Zimbabwe