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Trading assets and liabilities (Details Textual) (Sovereign and Corporate Bonds [Member], USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012
Sovereign and Corporate Bonds [Member]
Schedule of Trading Securities and Other Trading Assets [Line Items]
Secured Debt, Repurchase Agreements	$ 1,300,000
Net gain (loss) from trading	$ 100,000

X

- Definition

Amounts represents assets (bonds) that are (were) pledged to secure repo transactions.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	blx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The sum of the realized and unrealized net gain (loss) on trading securities during the period.

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Trading Securities

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6526789

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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