EPFO February payroll data: 15.48 lakh net members added, over 50% of new members in 18-25 years age group

EPFO has been releasing payroll data since April 2018 covering the period from September 2017 onwards.

Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on April 20 said it added 15.48 lakh members on a net basis in February 2024. Around 7.78 lakh members enrolled for the first time with the EPFO in February 2024, a labour ministry statement said.

The statement pointed out the 18-25 years age group dominated the EPFO payroll data, accounting for over 56.36 percent of the new members added in February. The data indicates the majority of individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers, the labour ministry stated.

The payroll data further shows that approximately 11.78 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This is due to the members switching jobs to new employers who are covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement.

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To arrive at the net monthly payroll, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar-validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from EPFO's coverage, and those who exited but re-joined as members are taken .

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data shows that out of 7.78 lakh new members, around 2.05 lakh are women.

Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.08 lakh. The female member addition is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

Data shows there has been an increase in members working in manufacturing, marketing servicing & usage of computers, companies/societies/assc/clubs/troupes for performances, road motor transport, automobile servicing, textiles, etc. Of the total net membership, around 41.53 percent addition is from expert services

This payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, and updating employee records is a continuous process, the report further said. The previous data hence gets updated every month.

Since April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period from September 2017 onwards.

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