EPFO’s provisional payroll data released on 21 September 2023 indicates that EPFO added 18.75 lakh net employees in the month of July 2023. The addition for the month is the highest since the EPFO began publishing its payroll data in April 2018, covering the period of September 2017 onwards. A growing trend has continued for the past three months, with an increase of around 85,932 net members over June 2023.
The data reveals that around 10.27 lakh new members enrolled in July 2023 marking the highest enrollment since July 2022. The majority of new members joining EPFO are in the age group of 18-25 years constituting roughly 58.45 percent of the total new members added in July 2023. This shows a rising trend in youth enrollment, who are mostly first-time job seekers joining the organized sector workforce of the country.
Payroll data indicates that approximately 12.72 lakh members left but rejoined EPFO within the last 12 months. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection.
A gender-wise analysis of payroll data reveals that in July 2023 around 3.86 lakh net female members were added. Around 2.75 lakh female members have come under the ambit of social security coverage for the first time.
State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is the highest in five states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Haryana. These states constitute around 58.78 percent of net member addition, adding a total of 11.02 lakh members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.45 percent of net members during July 2023.
Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in Trading-Commercial Establishments, Building and Construction Industry, Electrical, Mechanical, and General Engineering Products. This was followed by Textiles, Financing Establishment, Hospitals, etc. Of the total net membership, around 38.40 percent addition is from expert services consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities, etc.
