EPFO Adds 16.05 Lakh Members in Dec: Growth of 9.69%

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) Retirement fund body EPFO added 16.05 lakh net new members in December, which is 9.69 per cent higher compared to November 2024, as per the payroll data released on Tuesday.

Further, a labour ministry statement said there was a growth of 2.74 per cent in net payroll additions compared to December 2023.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has released provisional payroll data for December 2024, showing a net addition of 16.05 lakh members.

An increase of 9.69 per cent was registered in net payroll addition during December 2024 as compared to the previous month.

The data showed that EPFO enrolled around 8.47 lakh new subscribers in December 2024. The new subscribers' addition shows growth of 0.73 per cent from December 2023, the ministry said.

This surge in new subscribers can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO's successful outreach programmes.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group.

Total 4.85 lakh new subscribers were added in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 57.29 per cent of the total new subscribers added in December 2024.

Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for December 2024 was approximately 6.85 lakh, reflecting an increase of 16.91 per cent compared to November 2024.

This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

The payroll data highlights that approximately 15.12 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO.This figure represents a 5.10 per cent increase compared to the previous month of November 2024. It also depicts a significant growth of 25.76 per cent compared to December 2023.

These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement, thus safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data shows that out of the total new subscribers added during the month, around 2.22 lakh are female subscribers.

This figure exhibits growth of 6.34 per cent compared to December 2023. Also, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 3.03 lakh reflecting a year-over-year growth of 4.77 per cent compared to December 2023.

The increase in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that the top five states/ UTs constitute around 59.84 per cent of net payroll addition, adding a total 9.60 lakh net payroll during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra was leading by adding 21.71 per cent of net payroll during the month.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana individually added more than 5 per cent of the total net payroll during the month.

Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the net payroll addition in establishments engaged in industries, including expert services, building and construction industry, commercial establishments, financing establishments.

Of the total net payroll addition, around 41.23 per cent addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.).

The payroll data is provisional since data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process.

The previous data gets updated every month.

From the month of April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards.

In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exited but re-joined as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll.