Net (Loss) Income Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Numerator [Abstract]
Net (loss) income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd.		$ (229,137)	$ 196,398	$ (72,130)	$ 778,082
Dividends on preferred shares		14,184	14,184	42,551	42,551
Net (loss) income attributable to PartnerRe Ltd. common shareholders		$ (243,321)	$ 182,214	$ (114,681)	$ 735,531
Denominator [Abstract]
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding		47,866,040	49,514,980	47,722,833	50,461,749
Share options and other (1)	[1]	0	1,166,345	0	1,104,385
Weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding		47,866,040	50,681,325	47,722,833	51,566,134
Basic net (loss) income		$ (5.08)	$ 3.68	$ (2.40)	$ 14.58
Diluted net (loss) income	[1]	$ (5.08)	$ 3.60	$ (2.40)	$ 14.26
Anti-dilutive common shares excluded from weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding - diluted (1)	[1]	1,168,383	134,470	1,207,482	135,681

[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 and nine months ended September 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.