New Delhi, May 22: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 14.58 lakh net members in the month of March, and increase of 1.15 per cent in net payroll additions compared to March 2024, it was announced on Wednesday.

EPFO enrolled around 7.54 lakh new subscribers in March 2025, representing a 2.03 per cent increase over February and 0.98 per cent (year-over-year) growth compared to the previous year in March 2024.

This growth in new subscribers can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO's successful outreach programmes.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, as 4.45 lakh new subscribers were added in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 58.94 per cent of the total new subscribers added in March 2025.

New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month show an increase of 4.21 per cent compared to the previous month of February 2025. It also depicts a growth of 4.73 per cent from the previous year in March 2024.

Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for March is approximately 6.68 lakh -- reflecting a growth of 6.49 per cent from the previous year in March 2024.

This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers, according to Ministry of Labour and Employment.

According to the ministry, approximately 13.23 lakh members, who had exited earlier, rejoined EPFO in March.

This figure depicts a 0.39 per cent increase over February 2025. It also shows a significant 12.17 per cent year-over-year growth compared to March 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 2.08 lakh new female subscribers joined EPFO in March. It reflects an increase of 0.18 per cent compared to the previous month of February 2025. It also depicts year-over-year growth of 4.18 per cent compared to March 2024.

Further, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 2.92 lakh, with a year over year growth of 0.78 per cent.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.24 per cent of net payroll during the month.

Of the total net payroll addition, around 45.59 per cent addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities, etc).

(IANS)

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