Shareholders' Equity - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Apr. 03, 2016	Mar. 29, 2015
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Sonoco	$ 59,914	$ 85,780
Denominator:
Basic (in shares)	101,628	101,283
Dilutive effect of stock-based compensation (in shares)	701	884
Diluted (in shares)	102,329	102,167
Reported net income attributable to Sonoco per common share:
Basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.59	$ 0.85
Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.59	$ 0.84

The amount of net income (loss) for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period.

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