EPFO adds 16.1 lakh members in February as employment rises

New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Monday announced a net addition of 16.10 lakh members in February this year. The year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 3.99 per cent in net payroll additions compared to the same month last year, reflecting increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by the EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives, according to an official statement.

The figures further showed that the EPFO enrolled around 7.39 lakh new subscribers in February 2025, with a dominance of the young 18-25 age group. As many as 4.27 lakh new subscribers were added in this age group, constituting a significant 57.71 per cent of the total new subscribers added in the month. This is in consonance with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, getting into their first jobs.

Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for February 2025 is approximately 6.78 lakh. This represents a growth of 3.01 per cent from the same month last year, the statement said.

Approximately 13.18 lakh members, who had exited earlier, rejoined the EPFO in February 2025. This figure depicts a significant 11.85 per cent year-over-year growth compared to February 2024. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of the 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, the statement said.

Around 2.08 lakhs new female subscribers joined EPFO in February 2025. It depicts year-over-year growth of 1.26 per cent compared to the same month of the previous year.

Further, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 3.37 lakh, a significant year-over-year growth of 9.23 per cent compared to February 2024. The growth in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce, according to the statement.

State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that the top five states/UTs constitute around 59.75 per cent of net payroll addition, adding a total of around 9.62 lakh net payroll during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra leads all the states with the addition of 20.9 per cent of net payroll during the month. The states/UTs of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5 per cent of the total net payroll during the month.

–IANS