Miss World 1981

{{Short description|Beauty pageant edition}}

{{EngvarB|date=November 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}

{{Infobox beauty pageant

| photo = 250px

| caption = Miss World 1981 Titlecard

| winner = Pilín León

| represented = Venezuela

| date = 12 November 1981

| presenters = {{Hlist|Peter Marshall|Judith Chalmers}}

| acts = {{Hlist|Helen Reddy}}

| venue = Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

| broadcaster = Thames Television

| entrants = 67

| placements = 15

| returns = {{Hlist|Chile|El Salvador|French Polynesia|Iceland|Suriname}}

| withdraws = {{Hlist|Mauritius|Panama|Paraguay|Swaziland|United States 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, United Kingdom.{{cite book |last=Ribane |first=N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hoFAQAAIAAJ&q=Miss+World+1981 |title=Beauty: A Black Perspective |publisher=University of KwaZulu-Natal Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-86914-087-8 |page=6 |quote=The Miss World of 1981, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, only had three contestants from African countries: Zimbabwe, Lesotho and ...}}{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19811113&id=tNsvAAAAIBAJ&pg=3639,2277690&hl=en | title=New Miss World | newspaper=Rome News-Tribune | date=November 13, 1981 | access-date=25 January 2016}} The winner was Pilín León from Venezuela, 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.

This edition marked the return of Suriname, which last competed in 1966 and Chile, El Salvador, French Polynesia (as Tahiti), Iceland last competed in 1979. Mauritius, Panama, Paraguay, Swaziland, the United States Virgin Islands withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons.