1981 Women's European Volleyball Championship

The 1981 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the twelfth edition of the event, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted in several cities in Bulgaria from 19 to 27 September 1981, with the final round held in Sofia.

Format
The tournament was played in two different stages. In the first stage, the twelve participants were divided into three groups of four teams each. In the second stage, two groups were formed, one containing the winners and runners-up from all first stage groups (six teams in total) to contest the tournament title. A second group was formed by the remaining six teams which played for position places (7th to 12th). All groups in both stages played a single round-robin format.

Pool 1

 * venue location: Pernik, Bulgaria

Pool 2

 * venue location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Pool 3

 * venue location: Sofia, Bulgaria

7th–12th pool

 * venue location: Pernik, Bulgaria

Final pool

 * venue location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Final ranking
Team Roster Tanya Gogova, Verka Borisova, Maya Georgieva, Rumyana Kaisheva, Tsvetana Bozhurina, Anka Khristolova, Rositsa Dimitrova, Mila Rangelova, Galina Stancheva, Vanya Manova, Tanya Dimitrova and Zlatka Stoichkova. Head Coach: Vasil Simov.