Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Consolidated Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 3,034,689	$ 2,599,368	$ 2,317,328
Costs of products sold	2,146,165	1,896,259	1,743,506
Gross profit	888,524	703,109	573,822
Selling, general, and administrative expenses	403,404	367,831	356,006
Restructuring and severance costs	0	11,273	19,199
Impairment of Intangible Assets	0	0	1,559
Operating Income	485,120	324,005	197,058
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(36,680)	(27,850)	(25,623)
Other components of net periodic pension cost	(13,118)	(12,417)	(16,020)
Other	8,037	1,738	4,716
Loss on disposal of equity affiliate	0	(6,112)	0
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt	(26,583)	0	4,597
U.S. pension settlement charges	0	0	(79,321)
Gain (loss) related to Tianjin explosion	0	0	8,809
Other income (expense), total	(68,344)	(44,641)	(102,842)
Income before taxes	416,776	279,364	94,216
Income tax expense	70,239	298,924	44,843
Net earnings (loss)	346,537	(19,560)	49,373
Less: net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	779	784	581
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 345,758	$ (20,344)	$ 48,792
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Vishay stockholders:	$ 2.39	$ (0.14)	$ 0.33
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Vishay stockholders:	$ 2.24	$ (0.14)	$ 0.32
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic	144,370	145,633	147,152
Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted	154,622	145,633	150,697
Cash dividends per share	$ 0.3225	$ 0.255	$ 0.250