Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 1 (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	$ 307,450	$ 196,785
Intangible Assets Excluding Goodwill Gross	452,946	325,463
Intangible Assets Accumulated Amortization	(145,496)	(128,678)
Customer Relationships [Member]
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	282,470	201,445
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(79,782)	(68,319)
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	202,688	133,126
Proven technology and patents
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	115,680	78,312
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(56,305)	(52,138)
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	59,375	26,174
Tradename (Finite Life)
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	8,206	4,896
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(3,731)	(3,444)
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	4,475	1,452
Tradename (Indefinite Life)
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	35,949	35,595
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	35,949	35,595
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Finite Life and Indefinite Life Intangible Assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	10,641	5,215
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(5,678)	(4,777)
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	$ 4,963	$ 438

The total accumulated amount of amortization of intangible assets.

No definition available.

Name:	mtd_IntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	mtd_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Sum of the gross carrying amount before accumulated amortization of finite-lived intangibles and the carrying amounts (original costs for current and prior period additions adjusted for impairment if any) of indefinite-lived intangibles as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mtd_IntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwillGross
Namespace Prefix:	mtd_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 928
-SubTopic 340
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6473545&loc=d3e61844-108004

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance and having a projected indefinite period of benefit.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph ((a)(1),(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16212-109274

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_CustomerRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=mtd_ProvenTechnologyAndPatentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=mtd_TradenameFiniteLifeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=mtd_TradenameIndefiniteLifeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_OtherIntangibleAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: