Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2014	Jan. 09, 2015	Apr. 30, 2014
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Oct. 31, 2014
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	GEF
Entity Registrant Name	GREIF INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000043920
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--10-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Class A Common Stock [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		25,609,302
Entity Public Float			$ 1,333,175,524
Class B Common Stock [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		22,119,966
Entity Public Float			$ 326,613,108