Variable Interest Entities (Details) (USD $) In Millions	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended																					3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010		Jun. 30, 2011 Credit Card Receivable [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Credit Card Receivable [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Equipment [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Equipment [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Commercial Real Estate [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Commercial Real Estate [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Trade Accounts Receivable [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Trade Accounts Receivable [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Trinity [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Trinity [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Adjustments for New Accounting Pronouncement [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Adjustments for New Accounting Pronouncement [Member] Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Other [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Other [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member]		Jun. 30, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member]		Jun. 30, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member]		Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Member]
Assets And Liabilities Of Consolidated VIEs [Line Items]
Financing receivables - net	$ 292,917			$ 292,917			$ 303,012		$ 17,350	$ 20,570	$ 10,177	$ 9,431	$ 3,943	$ 4,233	$ 2,616	$ 1,882	$ 0	$ 0	$ 29,442	$ 39,463			$ 3,098	$ 3,356	$ 300,749			$ 300,749			$ 312,234						$ 37,184		$ 37,184		$ 39,472
Investment securities	45,340			45,340			43,938		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,927	5,706		1,015			1,033	964	45,331			45,331			43,921						5,960		5,960		6,670
Other Assets	109,499			109,499			96,342		17	17	230	234	203	209	14	99	206	283					3,014	3,672	74,598			74,598			79,240						3,684		3,684		4,514
Total Assets of Consolidated VIEs	739,130	[1]		739,130	[1]		751,221	[1]	17,367	20,587	10,407	9,665	4,146	4,442	2,630	1,981	5,133	5,989					7,145	7,992	605,634	[1]		605,634	[1]		608,683	[1]					46,828		46,828		50,656
Borrowings of consolidated VIEs									0	0	150	184	27	25	0	0	0	0					888	949													1,065		1,065		1,158
Non-recourse borrowings of CSEs	28,556			28,556					12,826	12,824	7,923	8,091	4,026	4,294	2,648	2,970	0	0		36,112	23,753		1,133	1,265													28,556		28,556		29,444
Other Liabilities	61,947			61,947			58,699		74	132	58	8	0	4	159	0	5,040	5,690					1,062	1,861	23,127			23,127			20,982						6,393		6,393		7,695
Total Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs	608,733	[1]		608,733	[1]		627,023	[1]	12,900	12,956	8,131	8,283	4,053	4,323	2,807	2,970	5,040	5,690					3,083	4,075	529,325	[1]		529,325	[1]		538,535	[1]					36,014		36,014		38,297
Total revenues of consolidated VIEs	35,625		36,928	73,960		72,995																			12,443		12,632	25,484		25,265			1,442	1,785	2,982	3,674
Provision for Loan and Lease Losses	811		2,007	1,968		4,187																			811		2,007	1,968		4,187			188	279	550	747
Interest And Other Financial Charges	3,773		3,946	7,574		7,867																			3,601		3,645	7,190		7,343							151	205	307	416
Liquidity and credit support related to consolidated VIEs											907	936					1,293	1,508
Assets Of Consolidated Securitization Entity																						2,875
Liabilities Of Consolidated Securitization Entity																						$ 525

[1] (b) Our consolidated assets at June 30, 2011 include total assets of $45,587 million of certain variable interest entities (VIEs) that can only be used to settle the liabilities of those VIEs. These assets include net financing receivables of $36,387 million and investment securities of $5,960 million. Our consolidated liabilities at June 30, 2011 include liabilities of certain VIEs for which the VIE creditors do not have recourse to GE. These liabilities include non-recourse borrowings of consolidated securitization entities (CSEs) of $28,556 million. See Note 18.