Variable Interest Entities and Preferred Securities of Subsidiaries - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				5 Months Ended			6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	5 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2007 acre	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2007	May 31, 2011 2002 Financing Entities	Oct. 31, 2007 Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary	Dec. 31, 2006 Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary	Jun. 30, 2013 Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2012 Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2006 Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary Class B Interests In Entities	Dec. 31, 2006 Timber Notes acre	Dec. 19, 2012 Timber Notes B N P Paribas [Member]	Jun. 21, 2012 Timber Notes B N P Paribas [Member]	Oct. 07, 2011 Timber Notes Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member]	May 31, 2002 Monetized Notes and Cash Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary	Mar. 27, 2013 Preferred Securities Of Subsidiaries	Mar. 30, 2003 Preferred Securities Of Subsidiaries acre	Jun. 30, 2012 2002 Monetized Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 2002 Monetized Notes	May 31, 2002 2002 Monetized Notes Variable interest entity, not primary beneficiary	Jun. 30, 2013 2007 Monetized Notes	Mar. 31, 2012 2007 Monetized Notes Societe Generale Sa [Member]	Jan. 23, 2012 2007 Monetized Notes Societe Generale Sa [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 2007 Monetized Notes Barclays Private Limited Company [Member]	Jun. 21, 2012 2007 Monetized Notes Barclays Private Limited Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Financial Assets	Sep. 30, 2012 Financial Liabilities	Mar. 31, 2012 Societe Generale Sa [Member] Timber Notes	Jan. 23, 2012 Societe Generale Sa [Member] Timber Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member] Timber Notes	Mar. 31, 2012 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member] Timber Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member] Timber Notes	Feb. 10, 2012 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member] Timber Notes	Nov. 22, 2011 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc [Member] Timber Notes
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Forestlands acreage sales		1,550,000												5,600,000
Amount of consideration received									$ 2,380,000,000	$ 4,800,000,000
Contribution of Class A interests in the Borrower Entities to other newly formed entities in December 2006										200,000,000
Contribution of International Paper promissory notes, to other newly formed entities										400,000,000
Class B interests held in entities in December 2006													5,000,000,000
Letters of credit downgrade period of replacement			60 days																					30 days											60 day
Entities acquired International Paper debt obligations for cash										4,800,000,000								500,000,000
International Paper debt obligations held by the Entities			10,124,000,000							5,200,000,000	5,300,000,000
Interest, offset against related debt obligations of the entities											5,200,000,000
Remainder of the borrowing included in long-term debt			9,057,000,000		9,696,000,000		2,140,000,000				74,000,000	79,000,000
Additional debt included in notes payable and current maturities			1,068,000,000		444,000,000						79,000,000	79,000,000
Letters of credit issued that support Timber Notes			2,380,000,000													707,000,000	1,600,000,000									506,000,000		500,000,000				666,000,000			797,000,000	135,000,000	707,000,000
Replacement fees incurred																									2,000,000		6,000,000				5,000,000		5,000,000	5,000,000
The percent of letters of credit supporting Timber Notes and Monetized Note that are cash collateralized			100.00%
Transferred notes (the Monetized Notes) and cash to entities in exchange for preferred interests																		500,000,000
Long-term notes, maturity term																							10 years
Percentage of interest in financing entities								100.00%
Payments of capital distribution								51,000,000
Notes matured																					252,000,000	191,000,000
Fair value of notes receivable as of acquisition date						2,090,000,000
Decrease in financial assets						292,000,000
Notes Receivable, Fair Value Disclosure			2,420,000,000
Fair value of financial assets as of acquisition date							2,030,000,000
Decrease in nonrecourse financial liabilities						110,000,000
Long-term Debt, Fair Value			2,310,000,000
Preferred third-party interest, included in noncontrolling interest			318,000,000		332,000,000															150,000,000
Forestlands acres held in United States initially by Southeast timber																				1,500,000
Distributions under preferred securities to third party investors	1,000,000		1,000,000	3,000,000
Preferred securities issued to a private investor with future dividend payments based on LIBOR in March 2003																			150,000,000
Goodwill, Translation and Purchase Accounting Adjustments																													$ 292,000,000	$ (110,000,000)
Number of Days Notice to Terminate Replacement Waiver															30 days