Fair Value Measurements - Financial Assets Liabilities Summary (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Billions	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]
Assets accounted at fair value or approximate fair value	$ 855	$ 872	$ 836

Assets accounted at fair value or approximate fair value.

No definition available.

Name:	gs_AssetsAccountedAtFairValueOrApproximateFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	gs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant