Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a 13.46 per cent year-on-year growth in net member addition of 21.89 lakh in June, according to the latest payroll data released on Wednesday.
Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) provisional payroll data for June 2025 showed a net addition of 21.89 lakh members, marking the highest recorded addition since payroll data tracking began in April 2018, a labour ministry statement said.
On a month-on-month basis, net payroll additions increased 9.14 per cent, it added.
The year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 13.46 per cent in net payroll additions in June 2025 compared to June 2024, signifying increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives, the statement said.
EPFO enrolled around 10.62 lakh new subscribers in June 2025, representing a 12.68 per cent increase over May 2025 and a 3.61 per cent growth year-on-year.
This rise 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.
EPFO added 6.39 lakh new subscribers in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 60.22 per cent of the total new subscriber addition in June 2025.
New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month show an increase of 14.08 per cent compared to the previous month of May 2025.
The net payroll addition for the 18-25 age group in June 2025 is approximately 9.72 lakh, reflecting an increase of 11.41 per cent from the previous month of May 2025 and a 12.15 per cent year-on-year growth.
This is in consonance with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.
Approximately 16.93 lakh members, who had exited earlier, rejoined EPFO in June 2025.
This figure depicts a 5.09 per cent increase over May 2025, and a significant 19.65 per cent year-on-year growth.
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, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection.
Around 3.02 lakh new female subscribers joined EPFO in June 2025.
It reflects an increase of 14.92 per cent compared to the previous month of May 2025 and a 1.34 per cent year-on-year rise.
Further, the net female payroll addition in June stood at around 4.72 lakh, with a month-on-month increase of 11.11 per cent and a 10.29 per cent year-on-year rise.
The growth 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 61.51 per cent of net payroll addition, registering a total of around 13.46 lakh net payroll in June.
Of all states, Maharashtra is leading the pack by adding 20.03 per cent of the net payroll during the month.
The states/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana individually added more than 5 per cent of the total net payroll in June.
The month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the net payroll addition of people working in establishments engaged in various sectors, such as school, expert services, building and construction industry, university, college, electrical, mechanical or general engineering products, trading-commercial firms, and financing companies.
Out of the total net membership, around 42.14 per cent addition is from expert services, where manpower suppliers constitute around 51.31 per cent.
The payroll data is provisional since data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a continuous process, the statement stated.
From 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, it stated.
