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End date of current fiscal year in the format --MM-DD.

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This is focus fiscal year of the document report in CCYY format. For a 2006 annual report, which may also provide financial information from prior periods, fiscal 2006 should be given as the fiscal year focus. Example: 2006.

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The type of document being provided (such as 10-K, 10-Q, N-1A, etc). The document type should be limited to the same value as the supporting SEC submission type. The acceptable values are as follows: S-1, S-3, S-4, S-11, F-1, F-3, F-4, F-9, F-10, 6-K, 8-K, 10, 10-K, 10-Q, 20-F, 40-F, N-1A, 485BPOS, NCSR, N-Q, and Other.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Regulation 12B
-Number 240
-Section 12b
-Subsection 1

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Subsection 1

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Document and Entity Informaton (USD $)	6 Months Ended
Document and Entity Informaton (USD $)	Apr. 30, 2011	May 31, 2011 Class A Common Stock	Apr. 30, 2010 Class A Common Stock	May 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock	Apr. 30, 2010 Class B Common Stock
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Apr. 30, 2011
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--10-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 1,405,354,258		$ 393,745,476
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		24,838,853		22,362,266