Document and Entity Informaton	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Feb. 27, 2012 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jan. 31, 2012
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--01-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		25,122,916	22,120,966