Final expiration year of guarantees of the reporting entity.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of project financing outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	dow_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under project financing facility for Sadara project.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

Amount of gain on the sale of property that does not qualify for gain recognition as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 605
-SubTopic 40
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 5.U.Q2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6955272&loc=d3e221323-122791

+ Details

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

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- Definition

The current carrying amount of the liability for the freestanding or embedded guarantor's obligations under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
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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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees before reduction for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (b)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES (Guarantees) (Table and Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014
Guarantees [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Final expiration	2021	2021
Guarantees, Maximum Future Payments	$ 5,096	$ 4,910
Guarantees, Recorded Liability	$ 86	$ 102
Residual Value Guarantees [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Final expiration	2027	2025
Guarantees, Maximum Future Payments	$ 947	$ 912
Guarantees, Recorded Liability	134	117
Total Guarantees [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantees, Maximum Future Payments	6,043	5,822
Guarantees, Recorded Liability	220	219
Railcar sale-leaseback [Member] \| Residual Value Guarantees [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantees, Maximum Future Payments	$ 234	$ 236
Deferred Gain on Sale of Property				$ 102
Sadara [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Sadara [Member] \| Guarantee of Indebtedness of Others [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Guarantees, Maximum Future Payments	$ 4,400
Sadara [Member] \| Long Term Debt entered into by Equity Method Investee [Domain] \| Total Project Financing [Member]
Guarantor Obligations [Line Items]
Project Financing, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	12,500
Project Financing, Amount Outstanding	$ 12,400	$ 11,900