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Condensed Financial Information (Parent Company) (Long-term Debt Outstanding) (Details) (Parent Company [Member], USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Long-term Debt [Abstract]    
Senior notes $ 15,317us-gaap_SeniorNotes $ 15,938us-gaap_SeniorNotes
Notes Payable, Related Parties 3,600us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent 3,600us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
Long-term Debt 18,917us-gaap_LongTermDebt 19,538us-gaap_LongTermDebt
Senior Notes, Unaffiliated [Member]
   
Long-term Debt [Abstract]    
Interest Rate Range Minimum 1.76%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMinimum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesUnaffiliatedMember
 
Interest Rate Range Maximum 7.72%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMaximum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesUnaffiliatedMember
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate 5.23%us-gaap_DebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesUnaffiliatedMember
 
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, Start Jun. 15, 2015  
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, End Dec. 15, 2044  
Senior notes 15,317us-gaap_SeniorNotes
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesUnaffiliatedMember
15,938us-gaap_SeniorNotes
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesUnaffiliatedMember
Senior Notes, Affiliated [Member]
   
Long-term Debt [Abstract]    
Interest Rate Range Minimum 3.54%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMinimum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
 
Interest Rate Range Maximum 7.44%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMaximum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate 5.16%us-gaap_DebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
 
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, Start Sep. 30, 2016  
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, End Dec. 31, 2033  
Senior notes 500us-gaap_SeniorNotes
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
 
Notes Payable, Related Parties 3,100us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
3,100us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_SeniorNotesAffiliatedMember
Other Affiliated Debt [Member]
   
Long-term Debt [Abstract]    
Interest Rate Range Minimum 0.93%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMinimum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_OtherAffiliatedDebtMember
 
Interest Rate Range Maximum 0.95%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentageRateRangeMaximum
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_OtherAffiliatedDebtMember
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate 0.94%us-gaap_DebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_OtherAffiliatedDebtMember
 
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, Start Dec. 30, 2015  
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Range, End Mar. 31, 2016  
Notes Payable, Related Parties $ 500us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_OtherAffiliatedDebtMember
$ 500us-gaap_NotesPayableRelatedPartiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= met_OtherAffiliatedDebtMember