Aim As the Japanese population ages, the number of older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to increase, but the prevalence of COPD in patients aged ≥80 years remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of COPD in independent community‐dwelling older adults aged ≥80 years. Methods We investigated the prevalence of COPD in 2862 independent community‐dwelling older adults (1504 men, 1358 women, mean age 77.7 ± 7.0 years) who underwent spirometry in the Fujiwara‐kyo study, a study of successful aging in older adults. Those participants with airflow limitation (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity <0.7) who indicated on a self‐administered questionnaire that they had a history of smoking and did not have bronchial asthma were considered to have COPD. Results The prevalence of COPD was 16.9% among all participants and 37.4% among smokers. The prevalence among individuals aged ≥80 years (19.7%) was significantly higher than that among those aged <80 years (16.0%; P < 0.05). When forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity lower limit of normal was used as the criterion for airflow limitation, the prevalence fell to 11.0%. Patients with mild‐to‐moderate airflow limitation (stage I/stage II) accounted for the great majority (91.2%) of COPD patients aged ≥80 years. Conclusions A high prevalence of mild‐to‐moderate COPD was observed even in the independent community‐dwelling older adults aged ≥80 years. However, the benefits of the spirometric screening and treatment for these patients needs to be determined. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; ••: ••–••.