Correction of Previously Issued Financial Information - Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Revenue	[1]	$ 7,399.8	$ 7,810.7	$ 19,223.6	$ 23,647.8
Cost of revenue	[1]	7,163.1	7,584.0	18,546.9	23,017.1
Gross profit	[1]	236.7	226.7	676.7	630.7
Operating expenses:
Compensation and employee benefits	[1]	106.6	94.2	306.2	270.3
Provision for bad debt	[1]	1.5	1.6	5.4	5.2
General and administrative	[1]	70.3	64.5	200.2	179.6
Total operating expenses	[1]	178.4	160.3	511.9	455.1
Income from operations	[1]	58.2	66.4	164.8	175.6
Non-operating expenses, net:
Interest expense and other financing costs, net	[1]	(10.3)	(7.9)	(26.0)	(21.5)
Other income, net	[1]	0.5	1.9	1.2	0.5
Total non-operating expenses, net	[1]	(9.8)	(6.0)	(24.8)	(21.0)
Income before income taxes	[1]	48.4	60.4	140.1	154.6
Provision for income taxes	[1]	5.4	17.7	15.7	33.6
Net income including noncontrolling interest	[1]	43.0	42.7	124.4	121.0
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	[1]	0.3	(1.0)	0.1	(3.5)
Net income attributable to World Fuel	[1]	$ 42.7	$ 43.7	$ 124.3	$ 124.5
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)	[1]	$ 0.62	$ 0.62	$ 1.79	$ 1.77
Basic weighted average common shares (in shares)	[1]	69.1	70.0	69.4	70.5
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)	[1]	$ 0.61	$ 0.62	$ 1.78	$ 1.75
Diluted weighted average common shares (in shares)	[1]	69.5	70.3	69.9	71.0
Comprehensive income:
Net income including noncontrolling interest	[1]	$ 43.0	$ 42.7	$ 124.4	$ 121.0
Other comprehensive (loss) income:
Foreign currency translation adjustments	[1]	(14.6)	(27.4)	(27.9)	(38.0)
Derivative instruments, net of income tax benefit of $0.7 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively	[1]	(7.7)	(1.1)	(2.8)	(1.1)
Other comprehensive (loss)	[1]	(22.4)	(28.5)	(30.7)	(39.1)
Comprehensive income including noncontrolling interest	[1]	20.7	14.2	93.7	81.9
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	[1]	1.4	(1.2)	1.9	(1.2)
Comprehensive income attributable to World Fuel	[1]	19.3	15.4	91.9	83.1
Derivative instruments, income tax benefit		$ 4.8	0.7	$ 1.7	0.7
As Reported
Revenue			7,810.7		23,647.8
Cost of revenue			7,584.0		23,015.2
Gross profit			226.7		632.6
Operating expenses:
Compensation and employee benefits			94.2		270.5
Provision for bad debt			1.6		5.2
General and administrative			64.5		177.6
Total operating expenses			160.3		453.3
Income from operations			66.4		179.3
Non-operating expenses, net:
Interest expense and other financing costs, net			(7.9)		(21.5)
Other income, net			1.9		0.5
Total non-operating expenses, net			(6.0)		(21.0)
Income before income taxes			60.4		158.3
Provision for income taxes			11.8		26.8
Net income including noncontrolling interest			48.6		131.5
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest			(1.0)		(3.6)
Net income attributable to World Fuel			$ 49.6		$ 135.1
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)			$ 0.71		$ 1.92
Basic weighted average common shares (in shares)			70.0		70.5
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)			$ 0.71		$ 1.90
Diluted weighted average common shares (in shares)			70.3		71.0
Comprehensive income:
Net income including noncontrolling interest			$ 48.6		$ 131.5
Other comprehensive (loss) income:
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(31.0)		(42.8)
Derivative instruments, net of income tax benefit of $0.7 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively			(1.1)		(1.1)
Other comprehensive (loss)			(32.1)		(43.9)
Comprehensive income including noncontrolling interest			16.5		87.6
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest			1.1		1.0
Comprehensive income attributable to World Fuel			15.4		86.6
Adjustment
Cost of revenue					1.9
Gross profit					(1.9)
Operating expenses:
Compensation and employee benefits					(0.2)
General and administrative					2.0
Total operating expenses			0.0		1.8
Income from operations			0.0		(3.7)
Non-operating expenses, net:
Total non-operating expenses, net					0.0
Income before income taxes					(3.7)
Provision for income taxes			5.9		6.8
Net income including noncontrolling interest			(5.9)		(10.5)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest					0.1
Net income attributable to World Fuel			$ (5.9)		$ (10.6)
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)			$ (0.09)		$ (0.15)
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)			$ (0.09)		$ (0.15)
Comprehensive income:
Net income including noncontrolling interest			$ (5.9)		$ (10.5)
Other comprehensive (loss) income:
Foreign currency translation adjustments			3.6		4.8
Derivative instruments, net of income tax benefit of $0.7 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively			0.0		0.0
Other comprehensive (loss)			3.6		4.8
Comprehensive income including noncontrolling interest			(2.3)		(5.7)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest			(2.3)		(2.2)
Comprehensive income attributable to World Fuel			$ 0.0		$ (3.5)

[1] Amounts may not add due to rounding