Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
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 $4.8 and $1.7 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, 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

[1] Amounts may not add due to rounding