Selected quarterly financial data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 29, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jul. 01, 2018	Apr. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Selected Quarterly Financial Information [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 1,308,850	$ 1,353,931	$ 1,359,721	$ 1,351,705	$ 1,355,616	$ 1,364,762	$ 1,366,373	$ 1,304,187	$ 5,374,207	$ 5,390,938	$ 5,036,650
Gross profit	246,887	265,485	275,336	270,121	254,308	259,636	276,460	250,602	1,057,829	1,041,006	958,652
Restructuring/Asset impairment charges	29,238	6,615	13,355	10,672	11,380	22,061	3,567	3,063	59,880	40,071	38,419
Net income attributable to Sonoco	$ 44,899	$ 92,064	$ 81,159	$ 73,663	$ 77,678	$ 72,415	$ 89,412	$ 74,055	$ 291,785	$ 313,560	$ 175,345
Net income attributable to Sonoco:
Basic (usd per share)	$ 0.45	$ 0.91	$ 0.81	$ 0.73	$ 0.78	$ 0.72	$ 0.89	$ 0.74	$ 2.90	$ 3.12	$ 1.75
Diluted (usd per share)	0.44	0.91	0.80	0.73	0.77	0.72	0.88	0.73	2.88	3.10	1.74
Cash dividends
Cash dividends (usd per share)	0.43	0.43	0.43	0.41	0.41	0.41	0.41	0.39	$ 1.70	$ 1.62	$ 1.54
Market price
Market price - high (usd per share)	62.77	66.57	66.23	61.79	58.31	58.69	53.80	55.43
Market price - low (usd per share)	$ 55.12	$ 55.44	$ 59.65	$ 51.29	$ 50.30	$ 51.18	$ 46.94	$ 46.55