Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Oct. 20, 2015
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Document period end date	Sep. 30, 2015
Amendment flag	false
Document Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Current fiscal year end date	--12-31
Entity central index key	0001489393
Entity current reporting status	Yes
Entity filer category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity registrant name	LyondellBasell Industries N.V.
Entity voluntary filers	No
Entity well known seasoned issuer	Yes
Entity common stock shares outstanding		449,443,823