Employee Benefit Plans - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	May 31, 2019	Sep. 27, 2020	Sep. 29, 2019	Sep. 27, 2020	Sep. 29, 2019
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions				$ 12,292,000	$ 210,962,000
Expected contributions for remainder of fiscal year		$ 4,700,000		4,700,000
Settlement losses recognized				661,000	2,343,000
Curtailment charges				31,000
Pension Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Settlement losses recognized		0	$ 796,000	661,000	2,343,000
Curtailment charges		0	0	31,000	0
Pension Plan | Sonoco Retirement Contribution
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions				22,503,000	14,573,000
Expected contributions for remainder of fiscal year		0		0
Recognized expense related to the plan		5,589,000	$ 5,912,000	17,283,000	$ 18,009,000
Pension Plan | Sonoco Pension Plan for Inactive Participants
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Estimated reduction of tax payments		38,000,000		38,000,000
Additional contributions anticipated to be made next year		150,000,000		150,000,000
Non-cash settlement charges expected to be incurred next year		$ 590,000,000		$ 590,000,000
Pension Plan | United States
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions	$ 200,000,000
Pension Plan | United States | Sonoco Retirement Contribution
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employer matching contribution, percent of employees' gross pay (percent)				4.00%
Employer matching contribution, percent of employees' gross pay in excess of social security (percent)				4.00%