Penelope Anne Coelen of South Africa was crowned by Marita Lindahl of Finland at the end of the pageant.

The eight countries have withdrawn from the competition: Austria, Egypt, Finland, Ghana and Luxembourg wouldn't participated after their respective selected delegates Elisabeth Schubel-Auer, Leila Saad, Pirkko Mannola, Janet Ohene-Agyei Boateng and Lydie Schmit for undisclosed reasons.

Iceland and Tunisia withdrew from the competition after their selected delegates Hjordis Sigurvinsdóttir and Denise Orlando was unable to compete for canceled their trips, according to their directors via telegram.

Sometimes in the recent year when has changed quite a bit, the contestants were trimmed down to 6 semifinalists, compared to 7 in 1957 and 8 in 1955.

The initial semifinalists were selected through a preliminary competition——first in evening gowns and later, in one-piece swimsuit (include 50% of the score for the figure in a bathing suit, according of Eade himself)——held the finals night.