The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in January saw a net addition of 17.89 lakh members, the provisional payroll data for January 2025 shows released by Ministry of Labour and Employment said 

An increase of 11.48% has been registered in net payroll addition during the current month as compared to the previous month of December 2024, as per the data.

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

EPFO enrolled around 8.23 lakh new subscribers in January 2025. The new subscribers’ addition shows year-on-year growth of 1.87% from the previous year in January 2024.

EPFO: Which Group Dominates?

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, 4.70 lakh new subscribers added in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 57.07% of the total new subscribers added in January 2025. New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month shows a growth of 3.07% from the previous year in January 2024.

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% compared to the previous month of December 2024 and a growth of 8.15% from the previous year in January 2024.

The payroll data highlights that approximately 15.03 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This figure depicts a significant year-over-year growth of 23.55% compared to January 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.

Gender-wise Data

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% 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% compared to the previous month of December 2024. It also depicts a significant year-over-year growth of 13.58% compared to January 2024.

The growth in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce. State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that the top five states/ UTs constitute around 59.98% of net payroll addition, adding a total around 10.73 lakh net payroll during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 22.77% of net payroll during the month. The states/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana individually added more than 5 per cent of the total net payroll during the month.