https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/cybersecurity/old-habits-die-hard-2025-most-common-passwords
The password “123456” continues to reign as the most commonly used password globally across all age groups, with a full 25 percent of the top 1,000 most-used passwords consisting of nothing but numerals, according to recent reports from NordPass and Comparitech analysing billions of leaked passwords from 44 countries. The predictable choice dominated among millennials, Generation X, and baby boomers as their top selection, while ranking second among Generation Z and the Silent Generation after “12345”. Other frequently chosen passwords including “admin”, “12345678”, “123456789”, and “password” rounded out the top positions, demonstrating that users continue prioritising convenience over security despite widespread awareness campaigns about password hygiene.
Regional analysis revealed equally concerning trends, with “admin” claiming the top spot in both the United States and United Kingdom. In the US, “password” and “123456” secured second and third place respectively, while UK users merely swapped the order of these two options. Comparitech’s examination of two billion real account passwords leaked on data breach forums in 2025 painted the same troubling picture, with number sequences dominating the most common password choices. Using easily guessable passwords offers no meaningful protection against brute-force and credential stuffing attacks that can rapidly compromise weak or reused passwords at scale.