Shareholders' Equity - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
Mar. 10, 2020	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Sonoco		$ 80,445	$ 73,663
Denominator:
Basic (in shares)		100,855	100,640
Dilutive effect of stock-based compensation (in shares)		216	432
Diluted (in shares)		101,071	101,072
Net income attributable to Sonoco per common share:
Basic (in usd per share)		$ 0.80	$ 0.73
Diluted (in usd per share)		0.80	0.73
Cash dividends (in usd per share)	$ 0.43	$ 0.43	$ 0.41

Aggregate dividends paid during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

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