Document and Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2012	Jun. 01, 2012 Class A common stock	Jun. 01, 2012 Class B common stock
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Apr. 30, 2012
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--10-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		25,170,768	22,119,966