Shareholders' Equity - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Oct. 01, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Oct. 01, 2017
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Sonoco	$ 72,415	$ 72,812	$ 235,882	$ 169,670
Denominator:
Basic (in shares)	100,640	100,275	100,534	100,214
Dilutive effect of stock-based compensation (in shares)	400	409	459	579
Diluted (in shares)	101,040	100,684	100,993	100,793
Net income attributable to Sonoco per common share:
Basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.72	$ 0.73	$ 2.35	$ 1.69
Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.72	$ 0.72	$ 2.34	$ 1.68