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The labour ministry in payroll data has said that retirement fund body -- Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recorded the highest net member addition of 18.75 lakh in July 2023. The addition of 18.75 lakh during the month is the highest since the first publishing of EPFO payroll data from April 2018 covering the period of September 2017 onwards.

A growing trend has continued for the last three months with an increase of around 85,932 net members over the previous month of June 2023. Around 10.27 lakh new members have enrolled during July 2023 which is the highest since July 2022. The majority of new members joining EPFO are in the age group of 18-25 years constituting roughly 58.45 per cent of total new members additions during the month. This shows an increasing trend in youth enrollment, who are mostly first-time job seekers joining the organized sector workforce of the country.

The payroll data demonstrates that approximately 12.72 lakh members exited but rejoined EPFO, which is the highest in 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.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data shows that during July 2023 around 3.86 lakh net female members have been added to the payroll. 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 the five states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Haryana.