New Delhi, Mar 20: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Thursday announced a net addition of 17.89 lakh members in January this year, which represents an increase of 11.48 per cent over the corresponding figure for December 2024.

Further, the year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 11.67 per cent in net payroll additions compared to January 2024, signifying increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by the EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives, according to an official statement.

The EPFO enrolled around 8.23 lakh new subscribers in January which reflects a growth of 1.87 per cent over the same month in the previous year.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group. As many as 4.70 lakh new subscribers were added in this young group, constituting a significant 57.07 per cent of the total new subscribers added in January 2025. New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month show a growth of 3.07 per cent over the corresponding figure in the same month of the previous year.

Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for January 2025 is approximately 7.27 lakh reflecting an increase of 6.19 per cent compared to the previous month of December 2024 and a growth of 8.15 per cent from the previous year in January 2024. This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the total new subscribers added during the month, around 2.17 lakhs are new female subscribers. This figure exhibits significant year-over-year growth of 6.01 per cent compared to January 2024.

Further, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 3.44 lakh reflecting an increase of 13.48 per cent compared to the previous month of December 2024. It also depicts a significant year-over-year growth of 13.58 per cent compared to January 2024. The growth in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce, the statement added.

--IANS

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