Dahomey (Benin), England, Haiti, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Malaya, Portugal, Republic of China, Singapore, Tahiti, and the Virgin Islands withdrew from the competition.
This was the first time that Bahamas, Curaçao, Okinawa Archipelago (a separate territory from Japan at the time), and Trinidad and Tobago sent representatives.
Susan Pratt, Miss England, was hit by a car on her first night in Miami and suffered a fracture on a knee. She had to withdraw from the pageant.