Segment reporting - Results of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	$ 2,167,359	$ 1,957,590	$ 1,856,613
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	83,030	(193,464)	292,536
Non-interest Income	897,062	642,128	512,312
Amortization of intangibles	3,275	9,134	6,397
Goodwill impairment charge	9,000	0	0
Depreciation expense	55,107	55,104	58,452
Other operating expenses	1,679,038	1,485,037	1,392,980
Income tax expense (benefit)	132,330	309,018	111,938
Net income (loss)	1,102,641	934,889	506,622
Segment assets	67,637,917	75,097,899	65,926,000
Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	2,196,508	1,995,749	1,896,127
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	82,756	(193,249)	292,441
Non-interest Income	711,687	589,280	469,625
Amortization of intangibles	3,275	3,478	6,299
Goodwill impairment charge	9,000
Depreciation expense	53,922	53,954	57,448
Other operating expenses	1,683,780	1,489,307	1,397,678
Income tax expense (benefit)	123,146	310,017	113,622
Net income (loss)	952,316	921,522	498,264
Segment assets	67,326,759	74,704,219	65,575,645
Intersegment Elimination
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	3	6	11
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	0	0	0
Non-interest Income	(547)	(548)	(553)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0
Goodwill impairment charge	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(543)	(544)	(544)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	(1)	2	2
Segment assets	(421,781)	(31,528)	(33,935)
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	(29,149)	(38,159)	(39,514)
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	274	(215)	95
Non-interest Income	189,835	56,535	46,442
Amortization of intangibles	0	5,656	98
Goodwill impairment charge	0
Depreciation expense	1,185	1,150	1,004
Other operating expenses	80	(545)	(1,212)
Income tax expense (benefit)	9,074	(1,085)	(1,560)
Net income (loss)	150,073	13,415	8,503
Segment assets	5,390,122	5,458,718	5,214,439
Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	0	0	0
Non-interest Income	(4,460)	(3,687)	(3,755)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0
Goodwill impairment charge	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(4,822)	(3,725)	(3,486)
Income tax expense (benefit)	110	86	(124)
Net income (loss)	252	(48)	(145)
Segment assets	(5,078,964)	(5,065,038)	(4,864,084)
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment charge	0	0
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	1,823,517	1,674,589	1,593,599
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	70,304	(136,352)	210,955
Non-interest Income	680,276	565,310	445,893
Amortization of intangibles	1,937	2,813	5,634
Goodwill impairment charge	0
Depreciation expense	47,003	46,539	47,890
Other operating expenses	1,454,187	1,285,959	1,169,816
Income tax expense (benefit)	148,351	253,479	106,211
Net income (loss)	782,011	787,461	498,986
Segment assets	56,190,260	64,336,681	55,353,626
PB
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment charge	9,000	0
PB | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net Interest income (expense)	372,988	321,154	302,517
Provision for credit losses (benefit)	12,452	(56,897)	81,486
Non-interest Income	31,958	24,518	24,285
Amortization of intangibles	1,338	665	665
Goodwill impairment charge	9,000
Depreciation expense	6,919	7,415	9,558
Other operating expenses	230,136	203,892	228,406
Income tax expense (benefit)	(25,205)	56,538	7,411
Net income (loss)	170,306	134,059	(724)
Segment assets	$ 11,558,280	$ 10,399,066	$ 10,255,954