Nearly half of Australians say the pandemic made their lives worse in an “alarming” trend that could have implications into the future, a new report states.

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia  (HILDA) lays bare how Australians’ lives changed during the first year of COVID in 2020.

It found people’s mental health took quite a hit, acclerating a decline that was already a concerning trend among young people in the years before the pandemic.

Job insecurity and disruptions to education were also cited, according to the survey by the University of Melbourne.

The HILDA survey found 45 per cent of respondents nationwide thought their lives were negatively impacted during the first year of the pandemic.

Melbourne, which had 245 days in lockdown, had the highest proportion of people affected — with about 33 per cent of people aged 15 and over reporting their lives changed for the worse.

This compared to 16 per cent for the country as a whole.

Melburnians, who endured one of the world’s longest lockdowns, along with single parents and people with disabilities were among those most affected by the health crisis.

Additionally, nearly one in 20 workers across the country reported losing their job and Victoria had the highest reported rate of job termination at 5.3 per cent.

Mental health significantly declined during COVID, particularly among women due to factors like working from home and the loss of social support and connections.

Lead researcher and University of Melbourne Professor Roger Wilkins said ultimately, the survey showed adverse health effects of COVID-19 were not restricted to people who got sick and died.

“There’s certainly cause for some alarm,” he told AAP.

“We’ve already been seeing a trend in mental health decline, particularly amongst young people and that really accelerated in 2020. That potentially has many terrible implications going forward for wellbeing and demands on the health system.”

There were reported changes in spending habits on alcohol and tobacco, with an 8 per cent increase in spending on alcohol and a 15.6 per cent rise in spending on tobacco in 2020.

Nearly one-third of tertiary students across the country reported an interruption of their studies during COVID-19, while about 49 per cent of Victorian students experienced an unforeseen interruption.