XML 94 R41.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9

Investments (Fair Value Below Amortized Cost of Gross Unrealized Losses for Fixed Maturity and Equity Securities) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Gross unrealized losses with number of securities [Line Items]
Gross Unrealized Losses	$ 99,462us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss	$ 134,919us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss
% of Total	100.00%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities	100.00%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities
Less than 20%
Gross unrealized losses with number of securities [Line Items]
Gross Unrealized Losses	72,598us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_LessThan20PercentMember	111,965us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_LessThan20PercentMember
% of Total	73.00%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_LessThan20PercentMember	83.00%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_LessThan20PercentMember
20% or more for less than six months
Gross unrealized losses with number of securities [Line Items]
Gross Unrealized Losses	15,318us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForLessThanSixMonthsMember	13,698us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForLessThanSixMonthsMember
% of Total	15.40%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForLessThanSixMonthsMember	10.10%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForLessThanSixMonthsMember
20% or more for six months or greater
Gross unrealized losses with number of securities [Line Items]
Gross Unrealized Losses	$ 11,546us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForSixMonthsOrGreaterMember	$ 9,256us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForSixMonthsOrGreaterMember
% of Total	11.60%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForSixMonthsOrGreaterMember	6.90%rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities / rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis = rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForSixMonthsOrGreaterMember

X

- Details

Name:	rga_GrossUnrealizedLossesWithNumberOfSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	rga_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage of total gross unrealized losses

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rga_PercentageOfTotalGrossUnrealizedLossesForFixedMaturityAndEquitySecurities
Namespace Prefix:	rga_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount of unrealized loss before deducting unrealized gain on investments in available-for-sale securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 320

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis=rga_LessThan20PercentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis=rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForLessThanSixMonthsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	rga_EstimatedFairValueRangesByPercentageAndTimeAxis=rga_MoreThanOrEqualTo20PercentForSixMonthsOrGreaterMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: