Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Consumer products
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 2,186	$ 3,270	$ 3,043	$ 2,314
Receivables	196	268
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	752	934
Other raw materials	182	170
Work in process	261	316
Finished product	429	359
Inventory, net	1,624	1,779
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	1,287	1,207
Other current assets	641	607
Total current assets	5,934	7,131
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	4,719	4,728
Less accumulated depreciation	2,608	2,512
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,111	2,216
Goodwill	5,174	5,174
Other intangible assets, net	12,083	12,098
Investment in SABMiller	6,468	5,509
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	419	1,257
Total consumer products assets	32,189	33,385
Financial services
Finance assets, net	2,805	3,559
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	44	18
Total financial services assets	2,849	3,577
TOTAL ASSETS	35,038	36,962
Consumer products
Current portion of long-term debt	0	600
Accounts payable	289	503
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	526	430
Taxes, except income taxes	65	220
Employment costs	146	225
Settlement charges	3,236	3,513
Other	1,191	1,311
Dividends payable	895	841
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Total current liabilities	6,348	7,643
Long-term debt	13,878	13,089
Deferred income taxes	5,095	4,751
Accrued pension costs	1,111	1,662
Accrued postretirement health care costs	2,364	2,359
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	560	602
Total consumer products liabilities	29,356	30,106
Financial services
Deferred income taxes	1,720	2,811
Due to Parent And Subsidiaries Financial Services	0
Other liabilities	61	330
Total financial services liabilities	1,781	3,141
Total liabilities	31,137	33,247
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	33	32
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,670	5,674
Earnings reinvested in the business	24,098	23,583
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,604)	(1,887)		(1,484)
Cost of repurchased stock	(25,233)	(24,625)
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,866	3,680
Noncontrolling interests	2	3
Total stockholders' equity	3,868	3,683		5,195
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	35,038	36,962
Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Consumer products
Cash and cash equivalents	2,153	3,245	3,015	2,298
Receivables	97	174
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	0	0
Other raw materials	0	0
Work in process	0	0
Finished product	0	0
Inventory, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	1,108	403
Deferred income taxes	9	9
Other current assets	270	6
Total current assets	3,637	3,837
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	2	2
Less accumulated depreciation	2	2
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Investment in SABMiller	6,468	5,509
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	9,723	7,009
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,500	6,500
Other assets	138	941
Total consumer products assets	24,466	23,796
Financial services
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	0	0
Total financial services assets	0	0
TOTAL ASSETS	24,466	23,796
Consumer products
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Accounts payable	3	69
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Taxes, except income taxes	0	0
Employment costs	25	29
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	342	384
Dividends payable	895	841
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	3,279	3,792
Total current liabilities	4,544	5,115
Long-term debt	13,579	12,790
Deferred income taxes	2,038	1,787
Accrued pension costs	220	236
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	219	188
Total consumer products liabilities	20,600	20,116
Financial services
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Due to Parent And Subsidiaries Financial Services	0
Other liabilities	0	0
Total financial services liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	20,600	20,116
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,670	5,674
Earnings reinvested in the business	24,098	23,583
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,604)	(1,887)
Cost of repurchased stock	(25,233)	(24,625)
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,866	3,680
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	3,866	3,680
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	24,466	23,796
PM USA [Member]
Consumer products
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables	11	16
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	416	565
Other raw materials	133	128
Work in process	8	4
Finished product	162	126
Inventory, net	719	823
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	2,851	3,007
Deferred income taxes	1,245	1,157
Other current assets	341	430
Total current assets	5,167	5,433
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	3,243	3,280
Less accumulated depreciation	2,047	2,005
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,196	1,275
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	2	2
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	3,017	3,035
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	505	586
Total consumer products assets	9,887	10,331
Financial services
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	0	0
Total financial services assets	0	0
TOTAL ASSETS	9,887	10,331
Consumer products
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Accounts payable	122	159
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	512	390
Taxes, except income taxes	57	209
Employment costs	9	12
Settlement charges	3,230	3,508
Other	533	620
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	355	474
Total current liabilities	4,818	5,372
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	1,553	1,562
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	190	216
Total consumer products liabilities	6,561	7,150
Financial services
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Due to Parent And Subsidiaries Financial Services	0
Other liabilities	0	0
Total financial services liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	6,561	7,150
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	3,321	3,283
Earnings reinvested in the business	308	210
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(303)	(312)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,326	3,181
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	3,326	3,181
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	9,887	10,331
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Consumer products
Cash and cash equivalents	33	25	28	16
Receivables	88	78
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	336	369
Other raw materials	49	42
Work in process	253	312
Finished product	267	233
Inventory, net	905	956
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	881	1,765
Deferred income taxes	33	41
Other current assets	30	247
Total current assets	1,970	3,112
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	1,474	1,446
Less accumulated depreciation	559	505
Property, plant and equipment, net	915	941
Goodwill	5,174	5,174
Other intangible assets, net	12,081	12,096
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	111	111
Total consumer products assets	20,251	21,434
Financial services
Finance assets, net	2,805	3,559
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		292
Other assets	44	18
Total financial services assets	2,849	3,869
TOTAL ASSETS	23,100	25,303
Consumer products
Current portion of long-term debt		600
Accounts payable	164	275
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	14	40
Taxes, except income taxes	8	11
Employment costs	112	184
Settlement charges	6	5
Other	316	383
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	1,030	1,201
Total current liabilities	1,650	2,699
Long-term debt	299	299
Deferred income taxes	3,392	3,345
Accrued pension costs	891	1,426
Accrued postretirement health care costs	811	797
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,500	6,500
Other liabilities	151	198
Total consumer products liabilities	11,694	15,264
Financial services
Deferred income taxes	1,720	2,811
Due to Parent And Subsidiaries Financial Services	176
Other liabilities	61	330
Total financial services liabilities	1,957	3,141
Total liabilities	13,651	18,405
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	33	32
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	9	9
Additional paid-in capital	10,220	8,238
Earnings reinvested in the business	751	265
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,566)	(1,649)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	9,414	6,863
Noncontrolling interests	2	3
Total stockholders' equity	9,416	6,866
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	23,100	25,303
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Consumer products
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables	0	0
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	0	0
Other raw materials	0	0
Work in process	0	0
Finished product	0	0
Inventory, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,840)	(5,175)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other current assets	0	(76)
Total current assets	(4,840)	(5,251)
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	0	0
Less accumulated depreciation	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	(12,740)	(10,044)
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,500)	(6,500)
Other assets	(335)	(381)
Total consumer products assets	(22,415)	(22,176)
Financial services
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		(292)
Other assets	0	0
Total financial services assets	0	(292)
TOTAL ASSETS	(22,415)	(22,468)
Consumer products
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Taxes, except income taxes	0	0
Employment costs	0	0
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	0	(76)
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,664)	(5,467)
Total current liabilities	(4,664)	(5,543)
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(335)	(381)
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,500)	(6,500)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total consumer products liabilities	(9,499)	(12,424)
Financial services
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Due to Parent And Subsidiaries Financial Services	(176)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total financial services liabilities	(176)	0
Total liabilities	(9,675)	(12,424)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	(9)	(9)
Additional paid-in capital	(13,541)	(11,521)
Earnings reinvested in the business	(1,059)	(475)
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	1,869	1,961
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(12,740)	(10,044)
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	(12,740)	(10,044)
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	$ (22,415)	$ (22,468)