Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 2,606,485	$ 2,301,260	$ 1,752,192
Cost of sales	(1,690,196)	(1,529,417)	(1,176,570)
Gross profit	916,289	771,843	575,622
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(448,636)	(378,027)	(323,447)
Research and development expenses	(104,350)	(90,227)	(73,020)
Amortization of intangibles	(37,860)	(30,630)	(29,041)
Asset impairments	0	(9,283)	0
Gain on sale of asset	37,891	0	0
Operating income	363,334	263,676	150,114
Interest expense, net	(43,554)	(62,693)	(58,903)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(6,392)	(5,715)	0
Non-operating pension benefit (cost)	4,005	4,476	(395)
Gain on sale of note receivable	0	27,036	0
Income from continuing operations before taxes	317,393	226,780	90,816
Income tax expense	(49,645)	(27,939)	(20,098)
Income from continuing operations	267,748	198,841	70,718
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(3,685)	(136,384)	(115,828)
Gain (loss) from disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax	(9,241)	1,860	(9,948)
Net income (loss)	254,822	64,317	(55,058)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	159	392	104
Net income (loss) attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 254,663	$ 63,925	$ (55,162)
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic (in shares)	43,845	44,802	44,778
Diluted (in shares)	44,537	45,361	44,937
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 6.10	$ 4.43	$ 1.58
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	(0.08)	(3.04)	(2.59)
Disposal of discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	(0.21)	0.04	(0.22)
Net income (loss) (in dollars per share)	5.81	1.43	(1.23)
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operation (in dollars per share)	6.01	4.37	1.57
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	(0.08)	(3.04)	(2.59)
Disposal of discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	(0.21)	0.04	(0.22)
Net income (loss) (in dollars per share)	$ 5.72	$ 1.41	$ (1.23)