Net (Loss) Income Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015		Jun. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Numerator [Abstract]
Net (loss) income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd.	$ (88,909)		$ 271,841		$ 157,007	$ 581,683
Dividends on preferred shares	14,184		14,184		28,367	28,367
Net (loss) income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd. common shareholders	$ (103,093)		$ 257,657		$ 128,640	$ 553,316
Denominator [Abstract]
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding	47,773,371		50,241,216		47,650,042	50,942,980
Share options and other (1)	0		1,087,545		1,135,395	1,081,471
Weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding	47,773,371		51,328,761		48,785,437	52,024,451
Basic net (loss) income	$ (2.16)		$ 5.13		$ 2.70	$ 10.86
Diluted net (loss) income	$ (2.16)	[1]	$ 5.02	[1]	$ 2.64	$ 10.64	[1]
Anti-dilutive common shares excluded from weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding - diluted (1)	1,154,210		149,600		54,382	119,870

[1] Where the exercise price of share based awards is greater than the average market price of the common shares, the common shares are considered anti-dilutive and are excluded from the calculation of weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding - diluted. In addition, for the three months ended June 30, 2015, dilutive securities, in the form of share options and other, were not included in the weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding for the purpose of computing the diluted net loss per share because to do so would have been anti-dilutive.