Document and Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 shares
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity registrant name	BECTON DICKINSON & CO
Trading symbol	BDX
Entity central index key	0000010795
Current fiscal year end date	--09-30
Entity filer category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document type	10-Q
Document period end date	Mar. 31, 2016
Document fiscal year focus	2016
Document fiscal period focus	Q2
Amendment flag	false
Entity common stock, shares outstanding (shares)	212,202,004