EPFO's net payroll addition in May at record high of 20.06 lakh

New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO added all-time high 20.06 lakh net members in May 2025, which includes 9.42 lakh new employees, as per the payroll data released on Monday.

This is 4.79 per cent higher as compared to April 2025 and 2.84 per cent more on year-on-year basis. The May figure marks the highest recorded addition since payroll data tracking began in April 2018, a labour ministry statement said.

Union Minister of Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya said the EPFO's all-time high net member addition in May 2025 is a testament to the growing strength of India’s formal employment landscape.

"This historic achievement is the direct result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary leadership and the government’s unwavering commitment to pro-youth, pro-worker reforms," he added.

The EPFO enrolled around 9.42 lakh new subscribers in May 2025, representing 11.04 per cent increase over April 2025.

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

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group.

The EPFO added 5.60 lakh new subscribers in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 59.48 per cent of the total new subscribers added in May 2025.

New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month show an increase of 14.53 per cent compared to April 2025.

Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for May 2025 was 8.73 lakh, an increase of 15.10 per cent from the previous month and a growth of 0.11 per cent from May 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, it stated.

Approximately 16.11 lakh members, who had exited earlier, rejoined the EPFO in May 2025. This depicts a 2.12 per cent increase over April 2025 and 14.27 per cent rise compared to May 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 2.62 lakh new female subscribers joined EPFO in May 2025, reflecting an increase of 7.08 per cent as compared to the previous month and year-over-year growth of 5.84 per cent.

Further, the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 4.25 lakh, with a month-on-month increase of 7.54 per cent and a year-over-year growth of 15.04 per cent.

The growth in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

The top five states/ UTs constitute around 59.98 per cent of net payroll addition, adding a total around 12.03 lakh net payroll during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.33 per cent of net payroll during the month.

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.

Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data shows significant growth in the net payroll addition working in establishments engaged in industries including expert services; textile establishment engaged in cleaning, sweeping services; electrical, mechanical or general engineering products; financing establishment; and garment making.

Of the total net payroll addition in the month of May 2025, around 44.61 per cent is from expert services, out of which manpower suppliers constitute around 51.71 per cent.

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

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