Net Income Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2013
Numerator [Abstract]
Net income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd.		$ 177,000	$ (229,000)	$ (89,000)	$ 246,000	$ 277,000	$ 196,000	$ 272,000	$ 310,000	$ 104,381		$ 1,054,974		$ 664,008
Preferred dividends		14,000	14,000	14,000	14,000	14,000	14,000	14,000	14,000	56,735		56,735		57,861
Loss on redemption of preferred shares										0		0		9,135
Net income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd. common shareholders		$ 163,000	$ (243,000)	$ (103,000)	$ 232,000	$ 263,000	$ 182,000	$ 258,000	$ 296,000	$ 47,646		$ 998,239		$ 597,012
Denominator [Abstract]
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding										47,771,673		50,019,480		55,378,980
Share options and other (1)	[1]									1,168,197		1,154,745		1,069,125
Weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding										48,939,870		51,174,225		56,448,105
Basic net income per share		$ 3.39	$ (5.08)	$ (2.16)	$ 4.88	$ 5.39	$ 3.68	$ 5.13	$ 5.72	$ 1.00		$ 19.96		$ 10.78
Diluted net income per share		3.30	(5.08)	(2.16)	4.76	5.26	3.60	5.02	5.61	0.97	[1]	19.51	[1]	10.58	[1]
Dividends declared per common share		$ 0.70	$ 0.70	$ 0.70	$ 0.70	$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 2.80		$ 2.68		$ 2.56
Anti-dilutive common shares excluded from weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding - diluted (1)	[1]									49,411		127,329		14,784

[1] Where the exercise price of share based awards is greater than the average market price of the common shares, the common shares are considered anti-dilutive and are excluded from the calculation of weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding - diluted.