Earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Numerator:
Net loss attributable to Stewart	$ (6,766)	$ (3,780)
Denominator (000):
Basic and diluted average shares outstanding	23,595	23,508
Basic and diluted loss per share attributable to Stewart (in usd per share)	$ (0.29)	$ (0.16)

The amount of net income or loss for the period per each share in instances when basic and diluted earnings per share are the same amount and reported as a single line item on the face of the financial statements. Basic earnings per share is the amount of net income or loss for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period. Diluted earnings per share includes the amount of net income or loss for the period available to each share of common stock or common unit outstanding during the reporting period and to each share or unit that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares or units for all dilutive potential common shares or units outstanding during the reporting period.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 260
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 7
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109260490&loc=d3e1337-109256

Name:	us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasicAndDiluted
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration