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Commitments and Contingent Liabilities Commitments and Contingent Liabilities (Guarantees Issued) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Insurance Treaty Guarantee [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	$ 793,815us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_InsuranceTreatyGuaranteeMember	$ 826,496us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_InsuranceTreatyGuaranteeMember
Insurance Treaty Guarantee Net Of Assets Held In Trust [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	650,115us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_InsuranceTreatyGuaranteeNetOfAssetsHeldInTrustMember	664,913us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_InsuranceTreatyGuaranteeNetOfAssetsHeldInTrustMember
Guarantee Of Borrowed Securities [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	193,840us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_GuaranteeOfBorrowedSecuritiesMember	201,050us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_GuaranteeOfBorrowedSecuritiesMember
Product Financing Arrangement [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	132,193us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = us-gaap_ProductFinancingArrangementMember	100,000us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = us-gaap_ProductFinancingArrangementMember
Guarantee Of Lease Obligations [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	$ 6,085us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_GuaranteeOfLeaseObligationsMember	$ 6,085us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = rga_GuaranteeOfLeaseObligationsMember

X

- Definition

The current carrying amount of the liability for the freestanding or embedded guarantor's obligations under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees.

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 460

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248

+ Details

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- Details

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