Organization and Investment Objective (Details)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022 numberOfWarrants $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2021 $ / shares
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share \| $ / shares	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments \| numberOfWarrants	2
Ellington Financial Operating Partnership LLC [Member] \| Total Stockholders' Equity
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Line Items]
Ownership Percentage	99.00%

[Line Items] for Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Table]

No definition available.

Name:	efc_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	efc_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Face amount or stated value per share of common stock.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageByParent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 18
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8672-108599

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_OwnershipAxis=efc_EllingtonFinancialOperatingPartnershipLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis=us-gaap_ParentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: