Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Billions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 10, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Document and 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-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 27.6
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		253,429,669
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class B Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		10,805,850
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Class C Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		630,706,163
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		50,199,758
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class B Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		1,888,323
LiLAC Group [Member] | Class C Ordinary Shares
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		120,649,072