Simon Willison’s Weblog

Python Django load MySQL database from csv files performance issue?

My answer to Python Django load MySQL database from csv files performance issue? on Quora

Don’t use the Django ORM for bulk imports—the performance overhead is pretty small for regular web page stuff, but it adds up if you are running millions of inserts.

Either write your import code to call MySQLdb directly or use the mysqlimport command line tool.