EPFO adds 2.1 mn members in July 2025, youth account for 61% of growth

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Retirement fund body EPFO added 2.104 million net members during July 2025, registering an increase of 5.55 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest payroll data released on Tuesday.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) enrolled around 979,000 new subscribers in July 2025, mainly on account of growing employment opportunities, increasing awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO's successful outreach programs, a labour ministry statement said.

The year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 5.55 per cent in net payroll additions compared to July 2024, signifying increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO's effective outreach initiatives, the statement added.

EPFO added 598,000 new subscribers in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 61.06 per cent of the total new subscribers added in July 2025.

Further, the net payroll addition for the 18-25 age group for July 2025 was approximately 913,000, reflecting a growth of 4.09 per cent from the previous year in July 2024, indicating that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

Approximately 1.643 million members, who had exited earlier, rejoined EPFO in July 2025. This figure displays a significant 12.12 per cent year-over-year growth compared to July 2024.

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.

Around 280,000 new female subscribers joined EPFO in July 2025.

Further, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 442,000, with a year-over-year growth of 0.17 per cent compared to July 2024.

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 revealed that the top five states/UTs account for around 60.85 per cent of the net payroll addition, resulting in a total addition of around 1.280 million during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.47 per cent of net payroll during the month.

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

Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data shows significant growth in the net payroll additions within establishments engaged in various industries, including iron ore mining, universities, beedi manufacturing, garments manufacturing, hospitals, commercial trading and travel agencies.

Out of the total net membership, around 40.21 per cent of the additions are from expert services.

The payroll data is provisional because data generation is a continuous process, involving the ongoing update of employee records.

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.