Retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added a record 18.92 lakh net members in April, payroll data released on Thursday showed. The addition during the month is the highest since the first payroll data was published in April 2018, a labour ministry statement said.

An increase of 31.29 per cent was registered in net member addition during April as compared to March 2024, it stated. According to the statement, EPFO’s provisional payroll data released on Thursday highlights that it has added 18.92 lakh net members in April.

Further, the year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 10 per cent in net member addition.

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The surge in membership can be attributed to various factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO’s outreach programmes, the statement said.

The data indicates that around 8.87 lakh new members have enrolled during April 2024.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 55.50 per cent of the total new members added in April. This is in consonance with the earlier trend, indicating that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time jobseekers.

The payroll data highlights that about 14.53 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO.

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

A gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of 8.87 lakh new members, about 2.49 lakh are new female members.

Also, the net female member addition during the month stood around 3.91 lakh, reflecting an increase of about 35.06 per cent compared to March. The surge 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 net member addition is highest in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Haryana. These states constitute around 58.30 per cent of net member addition.

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Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.42 per cent 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 industries such as expert services, trading — commercial establishments, etc.

Of the total net membership, 41.41 per cent 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, the statement said, adding that the previous data gets updated every month.

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-joining as members, is taken into consideration to arrive at net monthly payroll.