Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2014
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Net income	$ 75.5	$ 67.2	$ 44.9
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Foreign currency translation	(17.6)	(130.9)	(86.9)
Reclassification of cash flow hedges to earnings, net of tax benefit of $0.0, $0.1 million and $0.5 million, respectively	0.0	0.1	0.4
Unrealized gain on cash flow hedges, net of tax expense of $0.0, $0.0 and $0.2 million, respectively	0.0	0.0	0.1
Minimum pension liabilities, net of tax benefit of $4.7 million, tax expense of $(0.5) million and tax benefit of $15.7 million, respectively	(7.4)	9.0	(34.7)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(25.0)	(121.8)	(121.1)
Comprehensive income (loss)	50.5	(54.6)	(76.2)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	(3.4)	(23.5)	(45.9)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Greif, Inc.	$ 53.9	$ (31.1)	$ (30.3)