Description of Business, Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation - Additional Information (Details) - Segment	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of operating segments	1
Sales Revenue, Net \| Customer Concentration Risk \| Customers Located Outside Of United States
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Sales revenue percentage	69.00%	71.00%
Sales Revenue, Net \| Customer Concentration Risk \| Customers Located Outside Of United States \| QIAGEN Manchester Limited \| Collaborative Development Services
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Sales revenue percentage	84.00%	76.00%

For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Section 50
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Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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