Post-Employment Benefits (Tables) - AbbVie sponsored plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Employee Benefit Plans

Schedule of benefit plan information

	Defined benefit plans						Other post-employment plans
as of and for the years ended December 31 (in millions)	2015			2014			2015			2014
Projected benefit obligations
Beginning of period	$	5,681		$	4,484		$	538		$	403
Service cost		227			173			25			22
Interest cost		219			217			23			22
Employee contributions		2			1			—			—
Plan amendments		—			1			—			(13	)
Actuarial (gain) loss		(467	)		1,108			(17	)		111
Benefits paid		(158	)		(163	)		(11	)		(8	)
Other, primarily foreign currency translation adjustments		(117	)		(140	)		(1	)		1
End of period		5,387			5,681			557			538
Fair value of plan assets
Beginning of period		4,173			3,666			—			—
Actual (loss) return on plan assets		(25	)		282			—			—
Company contributions		217			430			11			8
Employee contributions		2			1			—			—
Benefits paid		(158	)		(163	)		(11	)		(8	)
Other, primarily foreign currency translation adjustments		(35	)		(43	)		—			—
End of period		4,174			4,173			—			—
Funded status end of period	$	(1,213	)	$	(1,508	)	$	(557	)	$	(538	)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets
Other non-current assets	$	214		$	210		$	—		$	—
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(24	)		(26	)		(11	)		(10	)
Other long-term liabilities		(1,403	)		(1,692	)		(546	)		(528	)
Net obligation	$	(1,213	)	$	(1,508	)	$	(557	)	$	(538	)
Actuarial losses, net	$	1,939		$	2,216		$	154		$	181
Prior service cost		16			19			(45	)		(53	)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss at December 31	$	1,955		$	2,235		$	109		$	128

Summary of pretax gains and losses included in OCI

years ended December 31 (in millions)	2015			2014			2013
Defined benefit plans
Actuarial (gain) loss	$	(117	)	$	1,127		$	(715	)
Prior service cost		—			1			15
Amortization of actuarial losses and prior service costs		(127	)		(68	)		(114	)
Foreign exchange (gain) loss		(37	)		(41	)		2
Total pre-tax (gain) loss recognized in other comprehensive (income) loss	$	(281	)	$	1,019		$	(812	)
Other post-employment plans
Actuarial (gain) loss	$	(17	)	$	111		$	(42	)
Prior service cost		—			(13	)		(53	)
Amortization of actuarial losses and prior service costs		(2	)		3			—
Total pre-tax (gain) loss recognized in other comprehensive (income) loss	$	(19	)	$	101		$	(95	)

Summary of net periodic benefit cost relating to the company's defined benefit and other post-employment plans

years ended December 31 (in millions)	2015			2014			2013
Defined benefit plans
Service cost	$	227		$	173		$	184
Interest cost		219			217			196
Expected return on plan assets		(325	)		(302	)		(259	)
Amortization of actuarial losses and prior service costs		127			68			114
Net periodic benefit cost	$	248		$	156		$	235
Other post-employment plans
Service cost	$	25		$	22		$	23
Interest cost		23			22			19
Amortization of actuarial (gain) loss and prior service costs		2			(2	)		(1	)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	50		$	42		$	41

Schedule of weighted-average assumptions used in determining benefit obligations at the measurement date

as of December 31	2015			2014
Defined benefit plans
Discount rate		4.4	%		3.9	%
Rate of compensation increases		4.4	%		4.4	%
Other post-employment plans
Discount rate		4.9	%		4.5	%

Schedule of weighted-average assumptions used in determining net periodic benefit cost

years ended December 31	2015			2014			2013
Defined benefit plans
Discount rate		3.9	%		4.9	%		4.3	%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets		7.8	%		7.9	%		8.2	%
Expected rate of change in compensation		4.4	%		5.0	%		5.0	%
Other post-employment plans
Discount rate		4.5	%		5.3	%		4.5	%

Schedule of effects of 1% change in assumed health care cost trend rates

	One percentage point
year ended December 31, 2015 (in millions) (brackets denote a reduction)	Increase		Decrease
Service cost and interest cost	$	12	$	(9	)
Projected benefit obligation	$	116	$	(90	)

Schedule of defined benefit pension plan assets

			Basis of fair value measurement
as of December 31 (in millions)	2015		Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1)		Significant other observable inputs (Level 2)		Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3)
Equities
U.S. large cap(a)	$	1,041	$	542	$	499	$	—
U.S. mid cap(b)		260		35		225		—
International(c)		688		100		588		—
Fixed income securities
U.S. government securities(d)		178		15		163		—
Corporate debt instruments(d)		440		124		297		19
Non-U.S. government securities(d)		182		33		149		—
Other(d)		156		122		34		—
Absolute return funds(e)		1,097		2		498		597
Real assets		39		8		7		24
Other(f)		93		93		—		—
Fair value of plan assets	$	4,174	$	1,074	$	2,460	$	640

				Basis of fair value measurement
as of December 31 (in millions)		2014		Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1)		Significant other observable inputs (Level 2)		Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3)
Equities
U.S. large cap(a)		$	1,314	$	588	$	726	$	—
U.S. mid cap(b)			267		67		200		—
International(c)			608		137		471		—
Fixed income securities
U.S. government securities(d)			216		—		216		—
Corporate debt instruments(d)			326		101		225		—
Non-U.S. government securities(d)			425		201		224		—
Other(d)			37		29		8		—
Absolute return funds(e)			848		3		371		474
Real assets			53		7		46		—
Other(f)			79		79		—		—
Fair value of plan assets		$	4,173	$	1,212	$	2,487	$	474
(a)	A mix of pooled index funds and actively managed equity accounts that are benchmarked to various large cap indices.
(b)	A mix of pooled index funds and actively managed equity accounts that are benchmarked to various mid cap indices.
(c)	A mix of pooled index funds and actively managed equity accounts that are benchmarked to various non-US equity indices in both developed and emerging markets.
(d)	Securities held by actively managed accounts, pooled index funds, and mutual funds.
(e)	Funds having global mandates with the flexibility to allocate capital broadly across a wide range of asset classes and strategies, including but not limited to equities, fixed income, commodities, financial futures, currencies, and other securities, with objectives to outperform agreed upon benchmarks of specific return and volatility targets.
(f)	Investments in cash and cash equivalents.

Summary of change in the value of plan assets that are measured using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3)

as of and for the years ended December 31 (in millions)	2015		2014
Beginning of period	$	474	$	411
Actual return on plan assets on hand at end of period		5		21
Purchases, sales and settlements, net		161		42
End of period	$	640	$	474

Schedule of expected pension and other post-employment payments

years ended December 31 (in millions)	Defined benefit plans		Other post-employment plans
2016	$	168	$	11
2017	$	177	$	14
2018	$	188	$	17
2019	$	199	$	20
2020	$	212	$	19
2021 to 2025	$	1,295	$	133