Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a net addition of 17.21 lakh members in September, according to payroll data released on Monday. A month-on-month comparison of payroll data shows an increase of 21,475 net members over August 2023, a labor ministry statement said.

Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 38,262 net members over September 2022. Around 8.92 lakh new members enrolled during September 2023, the ministry said. Among these newly joined members, the age group of 18-25 years constitutes 58.92 percent of the total new members added during the month.

This demonstrates that a majority of the members joining the organized sector workforce of the country are youth, who are mostly first-time job seekers, it explained.

Payroll data shows that approximately 11.93 lakh members exited but rejoined EPFO, it stated.

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

As compared to the previous month, the number of exits decreased by 12.17 percent, with 3.64 lakh exits in September 2023.

The data indicated that the number of members exiting the EPFO has been declining since June 2023.

The ministry stated that out of a total of 8.92 lakh new members added during the month, around 2.26 lakh were female members joining EPFO for the first time. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.30 lakh.

A state-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is the highest in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Haryana.

These states constitute around 57.42 percent of net member addition, adding a total of 9.88 lakh members during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.42 percent of net members during the month.

Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the sugar industry, courier services, iron and steel, hospitals, travel agencies, etc.

Of the total net membership, around 41.46 percent of the addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities, etc.)

The above payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a constant process.

The previous data, hence gets updated every month. From April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period from September 2017 onwards.

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