EQUITY Phantom (Details) - $ / shares	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Equity [Line Items]
Common stock dividends, per share	$ 0.4625	$ 0.4400
Total International Paper Shareholders' Equity [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Common stock dividends, per share	0.4625	0.4400
Noncontrolling Interests [Member]
Equity [Line Items]
Common stock dividends, per share	$ 0.4625	$ 0.4400

Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration