Total cash received from investee

No definition available.

Name:	bpop_CashReceivedFromInvestee
Namespace Prefix:	bpop_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This is the principal amount outstanding for securitized loans only (across all types of loans).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109247956&loc=d3e107314-111719

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PrincipalAmountOutstandingOnLoansSecuritized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=bpop_PrAssetPortfolio20131InternationalLlcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=bpop_FnmaGnmaFhlmcVieMember
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Note Non-consolidated variable interest entities - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2011
PRLP 2011 Holding, LLC
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Equity Method Investment Ownership Percentage	24.90%			24.90%
Cash Received From Investee				$ 48
PR Asset Portfolio 2013-1 International, LLC
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Equity Method Investment Ownership Percentage	24.90%		24.90%
Cash Received From Investee			$ 92
FNMA, GNMA, FHLMC VIE
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Principal Amount Outstanding on Loans Securitized or Asset-backed Financing Arrangement	$ 10,400	$ 10,600