Document And Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2012	Apr. 26, 2012
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	GENERAL CABLE CORP /DE/
Entity Central Index Key	0000886035
Document Type	10-Q/A
Document Period End Date	Mar. 30, 2012
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	On October 29, 2012, the General Cable Corporation (the "Company") announced that it had identified historical accounting errors relating to inventory. The accounting errors understated cost of sales and overstated inventory balances for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008, for the three months ended March 30, 2012 and for the six months ended June 29, 2012. The company has no evidence that the errors resulted from any fraud or intentional misconduct.
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		49,767,438
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer