A total of athletes from each gender took part. Each NOC was allowed to have a maximum of two athletes of each gender, provided that they were both represented in the first four places in the BWF Junior World Rankings. If this was not the case, each NOC had one starting place per gender.
All five continents were represented by both boys and girls. 27 starting places were awarded according to the BWF World Junior Ranking List of May 3, 2018. Argentina also received one starting place per gender as the host. In order to receive one of the four remaining starting places, the athlete had to be listed on the BWF World Junior Ranking List from May 3, 2018 and born between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2003.