Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2013	Sep. 02, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Sep. 02, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--10-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		25,456,724	22,119,966