Segment Information (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) business_segment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of product segments (in segments) \| business_segment		2
Number of reportable segments (in segments) \| business_segment		5
Number of operating segments (in segments) \| business_segment		5
Total Global Growth and Efficiency Program charges, pretax		$ 169	$ 105	$ 170
Charges for litigation matters		0	17	14
Gain on sale of land in Mexico		0	97	0
Charge for Venezuela accounting change		0	0	1,084
Venezuela remeasurement charges		0	0	34
Gain on sale of business		0	0	187
Net sales		15,454	15,195	16,034
Operating profit		3,589	3,837	2,789
Capital expenditures		553	593	691
Depreciation and amortization		475	443	449
Identifiable assets		$ 12,676	$ 12,123	$ 11,935
Percentage of corporate identifiable assets consisting of derivative instruments		5.00%	24.00%	76.00%
Percentage of corporate identifiable assets consisting of investments in equity securities		86.00%	68.00%	23.00%
Total long lived assets		$ 7,908	$ 7,642	$ 7,420
Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		13,162	12,931	13,822
Operating profit		3,767	3,814	3,864
Capital expenditures		402	433	490
Depreciation and amortization		323	297	309
Identifiable assets		11,600	11,058	10,751
Operating Segments \| Pet Nutrition
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		2,292	2,264	2,212
Operating profit		653	653	612
Capital expenditures		33	38	34
Depreciation and amortization		53	53	52
Identifiable assets		1,026	1,009	1,006
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating profit		(831)	(630)	(1,687)
Capital expenditures		118	122	167
Depreciation and amortization		99	93	88
Identifiable assets		50	56	178
CP Venezuela
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Charge for Venezuela accounting change				1,084
Venezuela remeasurement charges				34
MEXICO
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Gain on sale of land in Mexico	$ 97		97
North America \| Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		3,117	3,183	3,149
Operating profit		986	1,030	974
Capital expenditures		74	151	207
Depreciation and amortization		58	54	47
Identifiable assets		2,608	2,685	2,622
Latin America \| Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		3,887	3,650	4,327
Operating profit		1,162	1,132	1,209
Capital expenditures		127	94	110
Depreciation and amortization		82	76	88
Identifiable assets		2,423	2,314	2,314
Europe \| Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		2,394	2,342	2,411
Operating profit		599	579	615
Capital expenditures		63	51	40
Depreciation and amortization		74	64	67
Identifiable assets		3,781	3,554	3,308
Asia Pacific \| Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		2,781	2,796	2,937
Operating profit		841	887	888
Capital expenditures		125	120	121
Depreciation and amortization		101	96	99
Identifiable assets		2,244	2,006	2,031
Africa/Eurasia \| Operating Segments \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		983	960	998
Operating profit		179	186	178
Capital expenditures		13	17	12
Depreciation and amortization		8	7	8
Identifiable assets		544	499	476
United States \| Oral, Personal and Home Care
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		2,865	2,932	2,896
United States \| Pet Nutrition
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales		1,246	1,243	1,223
Global Growth and Efficiency Program
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Global Growth and Efficiency Program charges, pretax		$ 333	$ 228	254
Home Care \| Europe South Pacific
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Gain on sale of business				$ 187
Sales Revenue, Net
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percentage of consolidated Net sales represented by sales outside US		75.00%
Percentage of consolidated Net sales coming from emerging markets		50.00%
Percentage of consolidated sales represented by one customer		11.00%

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