Graduate recruits at Tesco can expect to earn more than their counterparts in all but one other sector, according to the supermarket.

The four-year earning potential of a Tesco graduate by the age of 25 is estimated at£140,000 — ahead of all other graduate roles apart from management consultants, a report by Tesco reveals.

This is compared to the£105,000 a marketing executive can hope to pull in during the same period, and the£73,100 the average solicitor makes, according to figures on a government careers advice website.

Tesco has released the report in light of figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters which show that many employers have frozen graduate salaries. The association also predicts that the overall number of graduate vacancies will fall by 5.4 per cent in 2009.

Tesco UK Operations Personnel Director Hayley Tatum said: “Following figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters that some sectors are downsizing their schemes or removing them altogether, we’re delighted to be able to show our commitment to the various graduate roles we have on offer and our continued focus on attracting top graduates to our business.

“In fact, this year we have experienced an extremely high number of graduate applications, and have now filled all of our September vacancies.”