The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has released its provisional payroll data for March 2025, revealing a net addition of 14.58 lakh members during the month. This marks a year-on-year increase of 1.15% compared to March 2024, signaling growing employment opportunities and greater awareness of social security benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s sustained outreach efforts.
According to the data, EPFO enrolled approximately 7.54 lakh new subscribers in March 2025, reflecting a 2.03% rise over February 2025 and a 0.98% increase compared to March 2024. The rise in new subscriptions has been attributed to improving employment conditions, increased awareness of benefits, and EPFO’s proactive engagement campaigns.
A significant trend observed in the payroll data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group among new subscribers. Of the total new additions, around 4.45 lakh subscribers fell into this age bracket, making up 58.94% of the total. This represents a month-on-month growth of 4.21% and a 4.73% increase over the same period last year. Moreover, the net payroll addition for this age group stood at approximately 6.68 lakh, marking a 6.49% rise year-on-year. This trend reaffirms the pattern of youth, especially first-time job seekers, forming a substantial portion of the organized workforce.
The data also revealed that about 13.23 lakh members rejoined the EPFO in March 2025 after previously exiting. This figure shows a marginal increase of 0.39% from February 2025 and a notable 12.17% rise compared to March 2024. These individuals, having switched jobs, chose to transfer their EPF balances rather than opting for final settlements, indicating a growing preference for long-term financial security and continued social protection.
In terms of gender representation, the EPFO saw the addition of approximately 2.08 lakh new female subscribers in March 2025. This figure shows a slight 0.18% increase from February and a 4.18% rise compared to March 2024. Net female payroll additions during the month were around 2.92 lakh, reflecting a 0.78% year-on-year growth. The increase in female participation points to a gradual but significant shift toward a more inclusive and gender-diverse workforce.
A state-wise breakdown of the data shows that the top five states and union territories contributed around 59.67% of the total net payroll additions, amounting to about 8.70 lakh new members. Maharashtra led the tally, accounting for 20.24% of the net payroll additions. States including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana each contributed more than 5% to the total net additions during the month.
On the industry front, the payroll data highlighted substantial growth in sectors such as restaurants, cement, general insurance, canteens, forwarding agencies, travel agencies, and hotels. A significant 45.59% of the total net additions were attributed to the “expert services” category, which includes manpower suppliers, contractors, security services, and other miscellaneous activities.
EPFO noted that the payroll data remains provisional, as updates to employee records and Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) filings are an ongoing process. These updates often involve delayed or modified filings and adjustments in exit dates, which can influence the final figures. Since April 2018, EPFO has consistently published monthly payroll data covering the period from September 2017 onward, tracking first-time subscribers, exits, and re-entries to calculate net monthly payroll figures.