This doesn't look too bad:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use Benchmark ':hireswallclock';
use DBI ();

my $DBH;

setup_db();

Benchmark::timethis( 1, \&db_benchmark );

sub db_benchmark {

    my $sth = $DBH->prepare( 'INSERT INTO benchmark ( id ) VALUES ( ? 
+)' );

    $DBH->begin_work;

    my $i = 0;
    while ( $i < 1_000_000 ) {
        $sth->execute( $i );
        $i++;
    }

    $DBH->commit;

    return;

}

sub setup_db {

    $DBH = DBI->connect(
        "dbi:SQLite:dbname=benchmark.sqlite",
        "",
        "",
        {
            'RaiseError' => 1
        }
    );

    if ( ! $DBH->tables( undef, undef, 'benchmark', 'TABLE' ) ) {
        $DBH->do( 'CREATE TABLE benchmark ( id INTEGER )' ); 
    }

    return;

}
[download]

Results:

#1 timethis 1: 10.4524 wallclock secs ( 9.35 usr +  0.16 sys =  9.51 C
+PU) @  0.11/s (n=1)
#2 timethis 1: 9.9961 wallclock secs ( 9.31 usr +  0.18 sys =  9.49 CP
+U) @  0.11/s (n=1)
#3 timethis 1: 9.85224 wallclock secs ( 9.29 usr +  0.17 sys =  9.46 C
+PU) @  0.11/s (n=1)
[download]

System: AMD Athlon(tm) Dual Core Processor 4850e, HDD WD10EADS