Estimated percentage of shares acquired under the stock repurchase program to be purchased and held for cancellation.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	abb_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of shares that had are being held in treasury for future cancellation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of shares that had are being held in treasury to support the Company's employee share programs.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abb_
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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

The cash outflow to reacquire common stock during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3291-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Financing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of stock repurchase plan authorized.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and are being held in treasury.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 29, 30
-Article 5

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 04
-Article 3

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Equity impact of the cost of common and preferred stock that were repurchased during the period. Recorded using the cost method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405813&loc=d3e23239-112655

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

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

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type:

- Details

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Stockholders' equity - Treasury stock activity (Details 2) - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 24, 2016	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014
Treasury stock activity
Value of shares repurchased			$ 1,501	$ 1,015
Purchases of treasury stock			1,487	1,003
Open market stock repurchases
Treasury stock activity
Shares repurchased		12.0
Value of shares repurchased		$ 282
Share repurchase program ending no later than September 2016
Treasury stock activity
Shares repurchased	13.3
Value of shares repurchased			$ 1,501	$ 733
Authorized amount of share buyback program					$ 4,000
Estimated percentage of shares repurchased to be held for cancellation					75.00%
Treasury shares held for cancellation under the buyback program			60.2	26.0
Treasury shares repurchase to supports its employee share programs			13.1	6.8
Purchases of treasury stock	$ 231