Consolidated Statement of Equity - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Total W. P. Carey Stockholders	$0.001 Par Value Common Stock	Additional Paid-in Capital	Distributions in Excess of Accumulated Earnings	Deferred Compensation Obligation	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)	Noncontrolling interest
Balance - beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2013	$ 2,202,731	$ 1,904,415	$ 68	$ 2,228,031	$ (350,374)	$ 11,354	$ 15,336	$ 298,316
Beginning equity balance - shares at Dec. 31, 2013			68,266,570
W.P. Carey Stockholders
Shares issued in public offering, value	282,162	282,162	$ 5	282,157
Shares issued in public offering, shares			4,600,000
Contributions from noncontrolling interests (Note 2)	570							570
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, value	462	462		462
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, shares			86,895
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, value	(15,737)	(15,737)		(15,737)
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, shares			368,347
Delivery of deferred vested shares, net	0	0		(15,428)		15,428
Windfall tax benefits - share incentive plan	5,641	5,641		5,641
Amortization of stock-based compensation expense	31,075	31,075		31,075
Redemption value adjustment	306	306		306
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(19,719)							(19,719)
Distributions declared	(379,835)	(379,835)		3,178	(386,855)	3,842
Net income	246,211	239,826			239,826			6,385
Shares issued to stockholders of CPA:16 in connection with the CPA:16 Merger, value	1,815,521	1,815,521	$ 31	1,815,490
Shares issued to stockholders of CPA:16 in connection with the CPA:16 Merger, shares			30,729,878
Purchase of the remaining interests in less-than-wholly owned investments that we already consolidate in connection with the CPA®:16 Merger	(280,936)	(41,374)		(41,374)				(239,562)
Purchase of noncontrolling interests in connection with the CPA®:16 Merger	99,757							99,757
Repurchase of shares, value	(678)	(678)		(351)	(327)
Repurchase of shares, shares			(11,037)
Foreign currency translation	76							76
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(117,947)	(111,970)					(111,970)	(5,977)
Realized and unrealized gain on derivative instruments	21,085	21,085					21,085
Change in unrealized loss on marketable securities	(10)	(10)					(10)
Balance - end of period at Dec. 31, 2014	3,890,735	3,750,889	$ 104	4,293,450	(497,730)	30,624	(75,559)	139,846
Ending equity balance - shares at Dec. 31, 2014			104,040,653
W.P. Carey Stockholders
Contributions from noncontrolling interests (Note 2)	730							730
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, value	(2,735)	(2,735)		(2,735)
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, shares			76,872
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, value	(15,493)	(15,493)		(15,493)
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, shares			331,252
Delivery of deferred vested shares, net	0	0		(20,740)		20,740
Windfall tax benefits - share incentive plan	12,522	12,522		12,522
Amortization of stock-based compensation expense	21,626	21,626		21,626
Redemption value adjustment	(8,873)	(8,873)		(8,873)
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(14,713)							(14,713)
Distributions declared	(406,219)	(406,219)		2,285	(413,180)	4,676
Net income	185,227	172,258			172,258			12,969
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(125,447)	(120,800)					(120,800)	(4,647)
Realized and unrealized gain on derivative instruments	24,053	24,053					24,053
Change in unrealized loss on marketable securities	15	15					15
Balance - end of period at Dec. 31, 2015	$ 3,561,428	3,427,243	$ 104	4,282,042	(738,652)	56,040	(172,291)	134,185
Ending equity balance - shares at Dec. 31, 2015	104,448,777		104,448,777
W.P. Carey Stockholders
Shares issued in public offering, value	$ 83,766	83,766	$ 2	83,764
Shares issued in public offering, shares			1,249,836
Shares issued to a third party in connection with the redemption of a redeemable noncontrolling interest	13,418	13,418	$ 0	13,418
Shares issued to a third party in connection with the redemption of a redeemable noncontrolling interest, shares			217,011
Contributions from noncontrolling interests (Note 2)	14,530							14,530
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, value	(1,210)	(1,210)		(1,210)
Shares issued upon exercise of stock options and purchases under employee share purchase plan, shares			41,359
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, value	(14,599)	(14,599)		(14,599)
Shares issued upon delivery of vested restricted stock awards, shares			337,179
Delivery of deferred vested shares, net	0			6,506		(6,506)
Deconsolidation of affiliate (Note 2)	(14,184)							(14,184)
Windfall tax benefits - share incentive plan	6,711	6,711		6,711
Amortization of stock-based compensation expense	21,222	21,222		21,222
Redemption value adjustment	561	561		561
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(17,030)							(17,030)
Distributions declared	(420,998)	(420,998)		1,236	(422,922)	688
Net income	274,807	267,747			267,747			7,060
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(92,434)	(91,353)					(91,353)	(1,081)
Realized and unrealized gain on derivative instruments	9,278	9,285					9,285	(7)
Change in unrealized loss on marketable securities	(126)	(126)					(126)
Balance - end of period at Dec. 31, 2016	$ 3,425,140	$ 3,301,667	$ 106	$ 4,399,651	$ (893,827)	$ 50,222	$ (254,485)	$ 123,473
Ending equity balance - shares at Dec. 31, 2016	106,294,162		106,294,162