| Division I | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  France |
| Venue(s) | Briançon, France (in 1 host city) |
| Dates | March 20 - March 25 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Switzerland (1st title) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 20 |
| Goals scored | 87 (4.35 per game) |
| Attendance | 14,527 (726 per game) |
| Scoring leader(s) |  Zuzana Kralova (5+3=8PTS) |
The 2001 IIHF World Women's Championships Division I (formerly Pool 'B') were held between March 20 – March 25, 2001 in the city of Briançon, France. Switzerland won the tournament with a narrow 2–1 victory over Japan in the final.
For the third consecutive year the number of participants grew, with this year's third tier having ten nations in two groups. The two groups played independent of each other in Bucharest, Romania and Maribor, Slovenia. Initially the two group winners, Slovakia and the Netherlands, were promoted to Division I with Denmark and Norway being relegated to Division I Qualification. However, before the 2003 season was played the formation of the divisions were changed.
The women's tiers were reformatted for 2003, so there would be a top level of eight teams, and Divisions I, II, III each with 6 teams. The winner of the 2001 Division I tournament was promoted to the 2003 World Championship, replacing the nation relegated from there. The relegated team and the next five placed nations formed Division I for 2003. The bottom two teams from 2001 Division I along with the top four nations from the two qualifying tournaments formed the 2003 Division II. All remaining participants proceeded to the 2003 Division III.