New Delhi: India’s pension fund body added 2.104 million net members in July, marking a 5.6% rise from a year earlier and underscoring a steady momentum in formal job creation, according to provisional payroll data released on Tuesday.
Nearly 980,000 people enrolled with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for the first time during the month, with more than 60% of them between the age of 18 and 25, the Union ministry of labour said in a statement.
The dominance of young subscribers, most of them first-time job seekers, highlights the role of fresh entrants in driving payroll growth.
Net payroll additions for this age group (18-25 years) stood at 913,000, up 4.1% from July 2024.
Re-entrants formed another large share of the payroll expansion.
About 1.64 million members who had previously exited the system returned in July, a 12.1% increase from a year earlier, as job-switchers opted to transfer savings to new employers rather than withdrawing them.
“These (rejoining) 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,” the statement said.
In monthly payroll data, 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.
Meanwhile, about 280,000 new female subscribers joined in July, taking the net female additions to 442,000, up 0.17% annually.
This number is broadly similar to the year-ago period, indicating a stable rate of female participation in the workforce.
However, with no significant growth observed, it highlights an area for potential improvement in gender parity in the job market.
Geographically, payroll growth was concentrated in industrial states. Maharashtra led with more than one-fifth of net additions, while Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for over 60% of the total.
“State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that the top five states/ UTs constitute around 60.85% of net payroll addition, adding a total of around 12.80 lakh net payroll during the month,” the statement said.
“Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.47% of net payroll during the month. The states/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5% of the total net payroll during the month,” it added.
Payroll additions were led by expert services, covering manpower agencies, security services, and contractors, which accounted for about 40% of net growth.
Other industries showing momentum included mining, universities, garments, hospitals, trading, and travel services.