Merger with CPA 15 Merger with CPA 15 (Narratives) (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						0 Months Ended									0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		13 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 tenant sqft property	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Level 3	Dec. 31, 2012 Level 3	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Net operating income Minimum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Net operating income Maximum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Estimated residual value Minimum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Estimated residual value Maximum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Residual capitalization rates Minimum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Residual capitalization rates Maximum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Cash flows Minimum	Sep. 28, 2012 Level 3 Cash flows Maximum	Sep. 19, 2012 Marcourt Investments Inc property	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA: 15 tenant property sqft	Sep. 30, 2012 CPA: 15	Dec. 31, 2012 CPA: 15	Dec. 31, 2011 CPA: 15	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA: 15 tenant property sqft	Sep. 30, 2011 CPA: 15	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA: 15 Market Value Fluctuation	Dec. 31, 2012 CPA: 15 Measurement Period Adjustment	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA: 15 Fixed rate loan	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA: 15 Variable rate loan	Sep. 28, 2012 WPC/CPA15 Merger	Dec. 31, 2012 WPC/CPA15 Merger	Dec. 31, 2012 WPC/CPA15 Merger	Dec. 31, 2011 WPC/CPA15 Merger	Sep. 28, 2012 WPC/CPA15 Merger Market Value Fluctuation	Sep. 19, 2012 WPC/CPA15 Merger Marcourt Investments Inc
Merger Disclosure
Share per share exchange rate																	0.2326				0.2326
Per share exchange rate																	$ 11.40				$ 11.40
Total per share consideration																	$ 12.65				$ 12.65
Per share closing price																	$ 49.00				$ 49.00						$ 49.00
Cash per share exchange rate																	$ 1.25				$ 1.25
Merger consideration																	$ 1,500,000,000		$ 1,532,718,000
Cash consideration	13,748,000	0	152,356,000	0													152,356,000		152,356,000
Shares of acquired entity received																	28,170,643
Fair value of W.P.Carey shares of common stock issued																	1,380,362,000		1,380,362,000
Shares of acquired entity received																	121,194,272
Increase in term loan facility																	175,000,000
Number of real estate properties		418														12	305				305
Number of tenants		128															76				76
Square footage of real estate properties		39,500,000															27,000,000				27,000,000
Occupancy Rate		98.90%															99.00%
Weighted average lease term																	9 years 8 months 12 days
Lease revenues		299,624,000	119,296,000	59,896,000																242,200,000								57,300,000
Number of loans acquired																									58	9
Debt aggregate fair value						1,477,497,000	1,727,985,000										1,200,000,000				1,200,000,000
Interest rate on debt																	5.60%				5.60%
Revenue from related parties		217,377,000	262,048,000	264,381,000														19,000,000
Equity income from managed REITs																		4,500,000
Income from operations		93,985,000	87,514,000	153,041,000																								9,500,000
Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest																												2,500,000
Merger and acquisition expense		9,230,000	31,639,000	33,000																									31,700,000
Equity method investment, ownership percentage																52.63%																47.37%
Total identifiable net assets	13,748,000																		1,663,363,000					5,600,000
Amounts attributable to noncontrolling interest																	237,359,000		237,359,000		237,359,000			700,000
Goodwill		350,208,000	329,132,000	63,607,000	63,607,000												268,683,000		268,683,000		268,683,000		121,200,000	(6,300,000)							110,800,000
Common stock, per share value		$ 0.001	$ 0.001																								$ 45.07
Per share premium																											$ 3.93
Increase Decrease In Market Value Of Stock Price																					$ 1.33
Net asset value, per share																						$ 10.40
Gain on change in control of interests		0	20,744,000	27,859,000															14,700,000
Carrying value of equity investment in CPA pre merger																	92,400,000				92,400,000
Fair value of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC equity interest in CPA:15 prior to the CPA:15 Merger																	107,147,000		107,147,000		107,147,000
Number of shares owned																	10,389,079				10,389,079
Gain from jointly-owned investments due to merger																											6,100,000
Carrying value of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC equity interest in jointly-owned investments with CPA:15 prior to the CPA:15 Merger																	48,700,000				48,700,000
Fair value of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC equity interest in jointly-owned investments with CPA:15 prior to the CPA:15 Merger																	54,822,000		54,822,000		54,822,000
Valuation techniques		•Discount rates applied to the estimated NOI of each property ranged from approximately 3.5% to 14.75%;•Discount rates applied to the estimated residual value of each property ranged from approximately 5.75% to 12.5%;•Residual capitalization rates applied to the properties ranged from approximately 7.0% to 11.5%.•The fair market value of such property level debt was determined based upon available market data for comparable liabilities and by applying selected discount rates to the stream of future debt payments; and•Discount rates applied to cash flows ranged from approximately 2.7% to 10%.
Discount rate								3.50%	14.75%	5.75%	12.50%	7.00%	11.50%	2.70%	10.00%
General and administrative expense		84,112,000	86,916,000	75,850,000																										31,700,000
Income tax expense		$ 1,252,000	$ 6,772,000	$ 37,214,000																										$ 9,600,000