Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL INSERT statement to insert multiple rows into a table.

Inserting multiple rows into a table

To insert multiple rows into a table using a single INSERT statement, you use the following syntax:

INSERT INTO table_name (column_list)
VALUES
    (value_list_1),
    (value_list_2),
    ...
    (value_list_n);

In this syntax:

  • First, specify the name of the table that you want to insert data after the INSERT INTO keywords.
  • Second, list the required columns or all columns of the table in parentheses that follow the table name.
  • Third, supply a comma-separated list of rows after the VALUES keyword.

To insert multiple rows and return the inserted rows, you add the RETURNING clause as follows:

INSERT INTO table_name (column_list)
VALUES
    (value_list_1),
    (value_list_2),
    ...
    (value_list_n)
RETURNING * | output_expression;

Inserting multiple rows at once has advantages over inserting one row at a time:

  • Performance: Inserting multiple rows in a single statement is often more efficient than multiple individual inserts because it reduces the number of round-trips between the application and the PostgreSQL server.
  • Atomicity: The entire INSERT statement is atomic, meaning that either all rows are inserted, or none are. This ensures data consistency.

Inserting multiple rows into a table examples

Let's take some examples of inserting multiple rows into a table.

Setting up a sample table

The following statement creates a new table called contacts that has four columns id, first_name, last_name, and email:

CREATE TABLE contacts (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    first_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    last_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(384) NOT NULL UNIQUE
);

1) Basic inserting multiple rows example

The following statement uses the INSERT statement to insert three rows into the links table:

INSERT INTO contacts (first_name, last_name, email)
VALUES
    ('John', 'Doe', 'john.doe@example.com'),
    ('Jane', 'Smith', 'jane.smith@example.com'),
    ('Bob', 'Johnson', 'bob.johnson@example.com');

PostgreSQL returns the following message:

INSERT 0 3

To verify the inserts, you use the following statement:

SELECT * FROM contacts;

Output:

id | first_name | last_name |          email
----+------------+-----------+-------------------------
  1 | John       | Doe       | john.doe@example.com
  2 | Jane       | Smith     | jane.smith@example.com
  3 | Bob        | Johnson   | bob.johnson@example.com
(3 rows)

2) Inserting multiple rows and returning inserted rows

The following statement uses the INSERT statement to insert two rows into the contacts table and returns the inserted rows:

INSERT INTO contacts (first_name, last_name, email)
VALUES
    ('Alice', 'Johnson', 'alice.johnson@example.com'),
    ('Charlie', 'Brown', 'charlie.brown@example.com')
RETURNING *;

Output:

id | first_name | last_name |           email
----+------------+-----------+---------------------------
  4 | Alice      | Johnson   | alice.johnson@example.com
  5 | Charlie    | Brown     | charlie.brown@example.com
(2 rows)


INSERT 0 2

If you just want to return the inserted id list, you can specify the id column in the RETURNING clause like this:

INSERT INTO contacts (first_name, last_name, email)
VALUES
    ('Eva', 'Williams', 'eva.williams@example.com'),
    ('Michael', 'Miller', 'michael.miller@example.com'),
    ('Sophie', 'Davis', 'sophie.davis@example.com')
RETURNING id;

Output:

id
----
  6
  7
  8
(3 rows)


INSERT 0 3

Summary

  • Specify multiple value lists in the INSERT statement to insert multiple rows into a table.
  • Use RETURNING clause to return the inserted rows.