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Short-term borrowings and debt (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Borrowings:
At fixed interest rates	$ 1,256,411blx_ShortTermBorrowingAtFixedInterestRate	$ 1,289,851blx_ShortTermBorrowingAtFixedInterestRate
At floating interest rates	1,348,431blx_ShortTermBorrowingAtFloatingInterestRate	1,017,527blx_ShortTermBorrowingAtFloatingInterestRate
Total borrowings	2,604,842blx_BorrowingsCurrent	2,307,378blx_BorrowingsCurrent
Debt:
At fixed interest rates	77,695blx_ShortTermDebtAtFixedInterestRate	287,987blx_ShortTermDebtAtFixedInterestRate
At floating interest rates	10,000blx_ShortTermDebtAtFloatingInterestRate	110,000blx_ShortTermDebtAtFloatingInterestRate
Total debt	87,695us-gaap_DebtCurrent	397,987us-gaap_DebtCurrent
Total short-term borrowings and debt	2,692,537us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings	2,705,365us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
Average outstanding balance during the year	2,191,253us-gaap_ShorttermDebtAverageOutstandingAmount	2,048,110us-gaap_ShorttermDebtAverageOutstandingAmount
Maximum balance at any month-end	2,692,537us-gaap_ShorttermDebtMaximumMonthendOutstandingAmount	2,705,365us-gaap_ShorttermDebtMaximumMonthendOutstandingAmount
Weighted average interest rate at end of the period	0.81%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRate	1.09%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
Weighted average interest rate during the period	0.93%blx_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRateDuringYear	1.21%blx_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRateDuringYear
U S Dollar [Member]
Debt:
Total short-term borrowings and debt	2,626,800us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember	2,536,815us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember
Peso [Member]
Debt:
Total short-term borrowings and debt	11,042us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember	73,964us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember
Japanese Yen [Member]
Debt:
Total short-term borrowings and debt	4,185us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_JapaneseYenMember	4,749us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_JapaneseYenMember
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	0.75%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_JapaneseYenMember	0.75%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_JapaneseYenMember
Swiss Franc [Member]
Debt:
Total short-term borrowings and debt	$ 50,510us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_SwissFrancMember	$ 89,837us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_SwissFrancMember
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	0.55%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_SwissFrancMember	0.80%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_SwissFrancMember
Maximum [Member] | U S Dollar [Member]
Debt:
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	1.20%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember	1.43%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember
Range of floating interest rates on borrowings	1.16%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember	1.47%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember
Maximum [Member] | Peso [Member]
Debt:
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	3.60%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember	4.58%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember
Range of floating interest rates on borrowings	3.69%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember	4.24%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MaximumMember
Minimum [Member] | U S Dollar [Member]
Debt:
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	0.64%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember	0.67%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember
Range of floating interest rates on borrowings	0.46%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember	0.79%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_USDollarMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember
Minimum [Member] | Peso [Member]
Debt:
Range of fixed interest rates on borrowings	3.58%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember	4.13%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingFixedInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember
Range of floating interest rates on borrowings	0.00%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember	4.03%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtPercentageBearingVariableInterestRate / blx_ForeignCurrencyAxis = blx_PesoMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember

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