Finance Receivable Transferred To Held For Sale [Line Items]

No definition available.

Name:	gef_FinanceReceivableTransferredToHeldForSaleLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	gef_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Financing receivable maximum amount under receivable purchase agreement.

No definition available.

Name:	gef_FinancingReceivableMaximumAmountUnderReceivablePurchaseAgreement
Namespace Prefix:	gef_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Maximum percentage of eligible receivables related with bank funds initial purchase price.

No definition available.

Name:	gef_MaximumPercentageOfEligibleReceivablesRelatedWithBankFundsInitialPurchasePrice
Namespace Prefix:	gef_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Minimum percentage of eligible receivables related with bank funds initial purchase price.

No definition available.

Name:	gef_MinimumPercentageOfEligibleReceivablesRelatedWithBankFundsInitialPurchasePrice
Namespace Prefix:	gef_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Percent Of Eligible Receivables as an Initial Purchase Price

No definition available.

Name:	gef_PercentOfEligibleReceivablesasanInitialPurchasePrice
Namespace Prefix:	gef_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivableByReceivableTypeAxis=gef_NieuwAmsterdamReceivablesPurchaseAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivableByReceivableTypeAxis=gef_SingaporeReceivablePurchaseAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Sale of Non-United States Accounts Receivable - Additional Information (Detail) - 12 months ended Oct. 31, 2018	USD ($)	EUR (€)	SGD ($)
European RPA
Finance Receivable Transferred To Held For Sale [Line Items]
Financing receivable maximum amount under receivable purchase agreement	$ 113,700,000.0	€ 100,000,000
Minimum percentage of eligible receivables related with bank funds initial purchase price	75.00%
Maximum percentage of eligible receivables related with bank funds initial purchase price	90.00%
Singapore RPA
Finance Receivable Transferred To Held For Sale [Line Items]
Financing receivable maximum amount under receivable purchase agreement	$ 10,800,000.0		$ 15,000,000.0
Percentage of eligible receivables related with bank funds initial purchase price	90.00%