Income Taxes (Details 8) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 Taiwan operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Taiwan operations [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Taiwan operations [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 US operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 US operations [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 US operations [Member] Maximum [Member]
Tax effect	$ 22,835	$ 39,393	$ 22,333			$ 502
Expiration year				2013	2016		2020	2027

Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences from unused tax credits.

No definition available.

Name:	himx_DeferredTaxAssetsUnusedInvestmentTaxCredits
Namespace Prefix:	himx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant