EPFO reports significant increase in new members for March 2025

In March 2025, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) in India reported a substantial net addition of 14.58 lakh members, highlighting a growing trend of formal employment. Compared to the figures from March 2024, this marks a year-on-year increase of 1.15%, demonstrating an ongoing rise in awareness regarding social security benefits among the workforce. The provisional payroll data, which is based on Aadhaar-validated Universal Account Numbers, shows that around 7.54 lakh new subscribers joined in March alone, reflecting a 2.03% increase from the month prior. Among the new registrations, the 18-25 age group continues to dominate, accounting for nearly 59% of all new subscriptions with approximately 4.45 lakh individuals joining in this category. Compared to February 2025, this represents a 4.21% rise, and on a yearly basis, it has increased by 4.73%. Moreover, the net payroll addition in this age range reached around 6.68 lakh, indicating a significant 6.49% improvement since March 2024. A notable trend observed in the data is that 13.23 lakh individuals who had exited EPFO previously chose to rejoin, a decision made by many to preserve their long-term savings and remain within the social security framework. Gender inclusion efforts appear to be making headway, with around 2.08 lakh women enrolling as new EPFO members this March. This is a minor rise of 0.18% from February and 4.18% year-on-year. Overall, the total net addition of female members for the month was approximately 2.92 lakh, which represents a 0.78% growth when compared with the same month last year. The geographical breakdown reveals that the top states and union territories contributed notably, with roughly 59.67% of the total net payroll addition coming from formations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, each state notably contributing over 5% of the total. The EPFO data also highlighted growth across various industries, particularly within sectors such as restaurants, cement, general insurance, and hotels. Notably, the category of expert services, which includes manpower suppliers and security agencies, made up a significant portion of the total net additions, comprising nearly 45.59%. Despite the robust growth, the data remains provisional as employee records are continuously updated each month. This highlights the dynamic nature of employment in India and indicates a positive shift towards more formal employment structures amid broader economic trends.