Document and Entity Informaton (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Dec. 09, 2011 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Apr. 30, 2011 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 09, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Apr. 30, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Oct. 31, 2011
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
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		$ 1,826,482,062		$ 1,497,194,778		$ 329,287,284
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			24,978,098		22,120,966