Collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Details) - Collaborative arrangement - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended
May. 26, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015
Collaborative and license agreements
Share of collaboration development costs responsible by the entity (as a percent)	40.00%
Janssen Biotech, Inc
Collaborative and license agreements
Milestone payments	$ 220
Share of collaboration development costs responsible by Janssen (as a percent)	60.00%
Share of pretax profits under collaboration		$ 45
Janssen Biotech, Inc \| Accounts receivable and other
Collaborative and license agreements
Amounts receivable		25
Janssen Biotech, Inc \| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
Collaborative and license agreements
Amounts payable		$ 98

Amount of payable to other entities recognized in the balance sheet resulting from the collaboration arrangement.

No definition available.

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementAmountPayable
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of receivable from other entities recognized in the balance sheet resulting from the collaboration arrangement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementAmountReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The maximum milestone payments that may be received by the entity based on the achievement of specified events under a collaborative arrangement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementMilestoneMethodPaymentsReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the percentage of share in collaboration development costs responsible by the entity under cost sharing arrangement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementsPercentageOfShareOfDevelopmentCosts
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of share in collaboration development costs responsible by Janssen under cost sharing arrangement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementsPercentageOfShareOfDevelopmentCostsResponsibleByThirdParty
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the amount of share of profits before income taxes under the collaborative arrangements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_CollaborativeArrangementsShareOfProfitsBeforeIncomeTaxes
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- 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

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=us-gaap_CollaborativeArrangementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=abbv_JanssenBiotechIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=abbv_AccountsReceivableAndOtherAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_AccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: