Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017	Aug. 01, 2017
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, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Amendment Flag	false
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Common Class A [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		225,487,900
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Common Class B [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		11,139,184
Liberty Global Group [Member] | Common Class C [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		595,562,538
LiLAC Group [Member] | Common Class A [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		48,662,604
LiLAC Group [Member] | Common Class B [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		1,946,579
LiLAC Group [Member] | Common Class C [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		120,772,146