Retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has registered a net addition of 19.29 lakh members in June 2024, the Labour Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry stated that a year-over-year analysis showed a 7.86 per cent growth in net member additions compared to June 2023.

This surge in membership can be attributed to numerous factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO’s outreach programmes, it noted.

The data indicates that around 10.25 lakh new members have been enrolled during June 2024. There is an increase of 4.08 per cent in the new members from May 2024 and a 1.05 per cent rise against June 2023.

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A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 59.14 per cent of the total new members added in June 2024.

This aligns with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

The payroll data highlights that approximately 14.15 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This figure depicts year-on-year growth of 11.79 per cent compared to June 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 unveils that out of new members added during the month, around 2.98 lakh are new female members.

This figure exhibits year-on-year growth of 5.88 per cent compared to June 2023. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 4.28 lakh, reflecting an annual growth of 8.91 per cent compared to June 2023.

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

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State-Wise Payroll Data

State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is highest in the five states/ UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Haryana.

These states constitute around 61.16 per cent of net member addition, adding a total of 11.8 lakh net members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 21.09 per cent of net members during the month.