New Delhi, Sep 23 : The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 19.94 lakh net members in the month of July, marking the highest recorded increase since payroll data tracking began in April 2018, data from the Ministry of Labour and Employment showed on Monday.

The EPFO added 10.52 lakh new members in July, a 2.66 per cent increase over June and a 2.43 per cent rise compared to the same month last year.

The surge in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO's successful outreach programmes, said Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.

About 14.65 lakh members who had exited the system rejoined EPFO in July. This figure represents a 15.25 per cent year-over-year increase. These members opted to transfer their provident fund accumulations rather than withdraw them, thus maintaining their long-term financial security.

The highest growth was observed in the 18-25 age group, with 8.77 lakh net additions in July.

According to the government, this marks the largest increase for this demographic since records began and reflects the continued trend of young people, mostly first-time job seekers, entering the organised workforce. This age group represents 59.41 per cent of all new members added during the month.

Nearly 3.05 lakh new female members joined EPFO in July, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 10.94 per cent. In total, 4.41 lakh net female members were added, marking the highest monthly addition for women since payroll tracking began, with a 14.41 per cent increase compared to July 2023.

As per the ministry, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Gujarat accounted for 59.27 per cent of the total net member additions, collectively adding 11.82 lakh members. Maharashtra led among the states/UTs, contributing 20.21 per cent of the total new members, the data showed. Notably, 38.91 per cent of net additions came from expert services, including manpower suppliers, contractors, and security services, among others.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a continuous process.

/IANS