Employees' Provident Fund adds 17.20 lakh members in April

Among the newly joined members, 54.15% fall within the age group of 18-25 years, indicating that a majority of the individuals joining the organised sector workforce are first-time job seekers.

The provisional payroll data from EPFO also revealed significant improvements in various key parameters.

In the month of April 2023, the net addition of members was 17.20 lakh, which marks an increase compared to the previous month of March 2023, where the net addition was 13.40 lakh.

The data indicates a year-on-year increasing trend in net payroll addition for the month of April 2023.

The number of re-joiners has also increased, with 12.50 lakh members exiting and subsequently rejoining the EPFO.

This number is higher compared to the previous month of March 2023, which recorded 10.09 lakh re-joiners.

These re-joiners are individuals who have changed jobs and decided to transfer their EPFO accumulations to their new establishments, rather than applying for final settlement. By doing so, they extend their social security protection provided by EPFO.

Compared to the previous month, the number of exits in April 2023 has decreased by 11.67%, with 3.77 lakh individuals leaving EPFO during that month. Furthermore, when comparing year-on-year data, exits have shown a decline in April 2023.

Analyzing the payroll data based on gender, it is observed that the enrollment of net female members in April 2023 was 3.48 lakh, compared to 2.57 lakh in March 2023. Out of the total 8.47 lakh new members added during the month, approximately 2.25 lakh are new female members joining EPFO for the first time.

Female members accounted for about 26.61% of all new enrollments in April, indicating the highest female participation among new members in the past six months.

According to the analysis of payroll data, the trend of increasing net member addition on a month-on-month basis is observed across most states in India.

The states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Delhi stand out as the top contributors, accounting for approximately 59.20% of the net member addition during the month.

When examining the data based on industries, there is a notable growth in the manufacturing and IT-related sectors on a month-on-month comparison. These sectors have shown significant increases in the number of members added to the EPFO during the specified period.