The nation's care system will become overwhelmed in the future unless major investment is introduced by the government, according to new research.
Newcastle University's study predicts an 82% increase in the number of care home places needed (about 630,000) by 2030 to cope with the demands of an increasingly older population.
However it found 80% of those aged 85 or older were entirely capable of looking after themselves (41%) or required help less than every day (39%).
The remaining 20% of those questioned needed either regular daily help or critical 24 hour care and with this age group expected to grow, the report said more and more pressure will be placed on care services.
"In 2010 there were 2.6m people aged over 80, by 2030 that is expected to rise to 4.8m and one in five of those will need regular care," it explained.
The Newcastle 85+ study, undertaken by the University's Institute for Ageing and Health, is the only one which looks specifically at this age group - the fastest growing demographic in the UK.
It is also one of a small handful of studies worldwide looking at very old people and could have an impact on developing aging policy in this country.
Professor John Bond, Prof of social gerontology and health services research at Newcastle University, led this part of the research and believes it is a double edged sword.
"There are two ways to look at this - with your glass half full or half empty," he said.
"We have found that 80% of people in this age group need little or no care which is great news. But on the other hand, there needs to be some major investment to ensure that those who need help can access the care they need."
Carol Jagger, Axa Professor of epidemiology of ageing at Newcastle University and joint author on the paper, explained the study of 841 89-year-olds living in Newcastle and Tyneside was a fair representation of the national population.
"This is also a very timely report which shows that the government needs to be investing both in elderly care and in research which tells us how to improve healthy ageing," she added.
"It should be about helping people maintain their health in old age as well as looking after people. The demographics are changing so much and so rapidly that action is needed now to prevent a major problem a few years down the line."
