Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jul. 29, 2016
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	Liberty Global plc
Entity Central Index Key	0001570585
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Amendment Flag	false
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		264,369,238
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class B Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		10,805,850
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class C Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		644,760,940
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		51,008,927
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class B Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		1,888,323
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class C Ordinary Shares [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		121,161,693