A total of 970 athletes from 19 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 76 events from eight sports.

The number of participating NOCs and athletes were larger than the previous Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1951.

As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the cauldron were excluded from the Opening Ceremony to preserve the tradition of the Olympic Games.

The flag bearer for the Philippines squad was Andres Franco, who won a gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games in high jump event, the sole gold medal of any Filipino in the athletics events of the previous Asian Games.

[7] National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named and arranged according to their official IOC country codes and designations at the time.

In the following calendar for the 1954 Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day.