Image Source: Swarajya
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) saw an addition of a record 19.14 lakh members in April 2025, a record 31.31% month-to-month and 1.17% compared to April 2024. The surge, as seen in the latest provisional payroll numbers, is indicative of increasing employment trends, especially among youth and women, and indicative of the increasing formalisation of India's workforce.
Record Net Addition
EPFO gained 19.14 lakh net members in April 2025, which is 31.31% more than March 2025 and 1.17% more year-on-year.
New Subscribers:
Approximately 8.49 lakh new members have been enrolled in April, up by 12.49% from March. The addition is on account of increasing employment opportunities and successful EPFO outreach.
Youth Dominate Enrolments:
The age group 18–25 drove the growth, adding 4.89 lakh new subscribers (57.67% of new additions). Net payroll addition in the 18–25 age group was 7.58 lakh, 13.60% more than the previous month, indicating a healthy inflow of new job seekers.
Women's Participation Skyrockets: Women membership grew significantly with 2.45 lakh new women subscribers (up 17.63% from March) and net female payroll addition of 3.95 lakh, a 35.24% month-on-month increase—indicating rising women participation in the organized sector.
Returning Members:
Approximately 15.77 lakh members re-joined EPFO in April as a result of change in employers, 19.19% higher than March and 8.56% higher than April 2024. Members did not withdraw but transferred their balances in lieu of long-term savings.
State-wise Trends:
The top 5 UTs and states together contributed 60.10% (11.5 lakh) of the net payroll additions. Maharashtra contributed 21.12%, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana—all being major contributors to the organized workforce.
Industry Trends: Specialist services, which include manpower providers, accounted for nearly 44% of net payroll additions, reflecting robust demand in service sectors. This data not only reflects employment growth, but growing use and consciousness of social security benefits among India's workforce.
Source: Business Standard, PIB, BusinessWorld, Upstox, Devdiscourse.
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