DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011	Oct. 25, 2011
DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION [ABSTRACT]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2011
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	AXIS CAPITAL HOLDINGS LTD
Entity Central Index Key	0001214816
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		130,597,547

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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