Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements Of Earnings And Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 5,528	$ 5,647
Cost of sales	1,299	1,792
Excise taxes on products	1,555	1,653
Gross profit	2,674	2,202
Marketing, administration and research costs	517	534
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	21
Amortization of intangibles	5	5
Operating income (expense)	2,152	1,642
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	261	293
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	(256)	(520)
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	2,147	1,869
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	762	674
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,385	1,195
Net earnings	1,385	1,195
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(28)	202	(153)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	1,357	1,397
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,357	1,397
Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0
Excise taxes on products	0	0
Gross profit	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	46	34
Asset impairment and exit costs		0
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Operating income (expense)	(46)	(34)
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	161	185
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	(256)	(520)
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	49	301
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(9)	84
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,327	978
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,385	1,195
Net earnings	1,385	1,195
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(28)	202
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	1,357	1,397
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,357	1,397
PM USA [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	4,822	4,922
Cost of sales	1,099	1,599
Excise taxes on products	1,495	1,577
Gross profit	2,228	1,746
Marketing, administration and research costs	419	431
Asset impairment and exit costs		20
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Operating income (expense)	1,809	1,295
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	0	(1)
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,809	1,296
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	667	482
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	44	49
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,186	863
Net earnings	1,186	863
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	8	(1)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	1,194	862
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,194	862
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	711	731
Cost of sales	205	199
Excise taxes on products	60	76
Gross profit	446	456
Marketing, administration and research costs	52	69
Asset impairment and exit costs		1
Amortization of intangibles	5	5
Operating income (expense)	389	381
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	100	109
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	289	272
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	104	108
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	185	164
Net earnings	185	164
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	59	21
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	244	185
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	244	185
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(5)	(6)
Cost of sales	(5)	(6)
Excise taxes on products	0	0
Gross profit	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs		0
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Operating income (expense)	0	0
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	(1,371)	(1,027)
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(1,371)	(1,027)
Net earnings	(1,371)	(1,027)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(67)	(20)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(1,438)	(1,047)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	$ (1,438)	$ (1,047)