Earnings Per Share (Details 1) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			36 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2010	Apr. 30, 2010	Jan. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2009	Oct. 31, 2011
Numerator for basic and diluted EPS -
Net income attributable to Greif, Inc.	$ 20,775,000	$ 62,940,000	$ 50,884,000	$ 41,441,000	$ 76,557,000	$ 65,975,000	$ 42,634,000	$ 24,819,000	$ 176,040,000	$ 209,985,000	$ 110,646,000
Dividends paid									(97,817,000)	(93,122,000)	(87,957,000)
Undistributed net income attributable to Greif									78,200,000	116,900,000	22,600,000
Earnings Per Share (Textual) [Abstract]
Repurchase of common stock												3,183,272
Earnings Per Share (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
Value of shares authorized to be purchased												up to four million shares of Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock or any combination of the foregoing
Number of shares authorized to be purchased					4,000,000					4,000,000
Total cost of the shares repurchased									$ 15,062,000	$ 2,696,000	$ 3,145,000	$ 20,900,000
Class A common stock [Member]
Class A Common Stock:
Basic shares	24,967,000	24,897,665	24,825,768	24,787,857	24,747,669	24,687,006	24,637,648	24,545,131	24,869,573	24,654,364	24,328,724
Assumed conversion of stock options									174,869	304,712	311,259
Diluted shares	25,069,409	25,100,003	25,106,844	25,062,556	25,078,601	24,999,901	25,008,915	24,907,553	25,044,442	24,959,076	24,639,983
Denominator for basic EPS -
Denominator for basic EPS	24,967,000	24,897,665	24,825,768	24,787,857	24,747,669	24,687,006	24,637,648	24,545,131	24,869,573	24,654,364	24,328,724
Denominator for diluted EPS -
Denominator for diluted EPS	25,069,409	25,100,003	25,106,844	25,062,556	25,078,601	24,999,901	25,008,915	24,907,553	25,044,442	24,959,076	24,639,983
EPS Basic
EPS Basic	$ 0.36	$ 1.08	$ 0.87	$ 0.71	$ 1.31	$ 1.13	$ 0.73	$ 0.43	$ 3.02	$ 3.60	$ 1.91
EPS Diluted
EPS Diluted	$ 0.36	$ 1.07	$ 0.87	$ 0.71	$ 1.30	$ 1.12	$ 0.73	$ 0.43	$ 3.01	$ 3.58	$ 1.91
Dividends per share
Dividends per share									$ 1.68	$ 1.60
Earnings Per Share (Textual) [Abstract]
Calculation of EPS									(i) multiply 40% times the average Class A shares outstanding, then divide that amount by the product of 40% of the average Class A shares outstanding plus 60% of the average Class B shares outstanding to get a percentage, (ii) divide undistributed net income attributable to Greif, Inc. by the average Class A shares outstanding, then (iii) multiply item (i) by item (ii), and finally (iv) add item (iii) to the Class A cash dividend per share
Cumulative dividend per year									$ 0.01
Repurchase of common stock									8,700			1,425,452
Proportional distribution of cumulative dividend per year									$ 0.01
Class B common stock [Member]
Class A Common Stock:
Basic shares	22,238,920	22,362,266	22,385,922	22,412,266	22,412,266	22,444,488	22,462,266	22,462,266	22,300,000	22,400,000	22,500,000
Diluted shares	22,238,920	22,362,266	22,385,922	22,412,266	22,412,266	22,444,488	22,462,266	22,462,266	22,400,000	22,400,000	22,500,000
Class B Common Stock:
Basic and diluted shares	22,445,322				22,445,322				22,445,322	22,445,322	22,475,707	22,445,322
Denominator for basic EPS -
Denominator for basic EPS	22,238,920	22,362,266	22,385,922	22,412,266	22,412,266	22,444,488	22,462,266	22,462,266	22,300,000	22,400,000	22,500,000
Denominator for diluted EPS -
Denominator for diluted EPS	22,238,920	22,362,266	22,385,922	22,412,266	22,412,266	22,444,488	22,462,266	22,462,266	22,400,000	22,400,000	22,500,000
EPS Basic
EPS Basic	$ 0.53	$ 1.61	$ 1.31	$ 1.06	$ 1.97	$ 1.70	$ 1.10	$ 0.63	$ 4.52	$ 5.40	$ 2.86
EPS Diluted
EPS Diluted	$ 0.53	$ 1.61	$ 1.31	$ 1.06	$ 1.97	$ 1.70	$ 1.10	$ 0.63	$ 4.52	$ 5.40	$ 2.86
Dividends per share
Dividends per share									$ 2.51	$ 2.39
Earnings Per Share (Textual) [Abstract]
Calculation of EPS									(i) multiply 60% times the average Class B shares outstanding, then divide that amount by the product of 40% of the average Class A shares outstanding plus 60% of the average Class B shares outstanding to get a percentage, (ii) divide undistributed net income attributable to Greif, Inc. by the average Class B shares outstanding, then (iii) multiply item (i) by item (ii), and finally (iv) add item (iii) to the Class B cash dividend per share
Non-cumulative dividend per year									$ 0.005
Repurchase of common stock									291,300			1,757,820
Proportional distribution of non cumulative dividend per year									$ 1.05