Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 6,553	$ 6,242	$ 18,386	$ 18,376
Cost of sales	1,939	1,982	5,210	5,860
Excise taxes on products	1,793	1,776	5,127	5,336
Gross profit	2,821	2,484	8,049	7,180
Marketing, administration and research costs	659	548	1,723	1,678
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables	25	(48)	25	(48)
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	10	1	47
Amortization of intangibles	5	5	15	15
Operating income (expense)	2,132	1,969	6,285	5,488
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	269	282	794	868
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	874	0	874
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	(255)	(230)	(738)	(973)
Earnings before income taxes	2,118	1,043	6,229	4,719
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	722	386	2,182	1,641
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net earnings	1,396	657	4,047	3,078
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,396	657	4,047	3,077
Net earnings	1,396	657	4,047	3,078
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	107	70	(183)	283	(153)
Comprehensive earnings	1,503	727	3,864	3,361
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,503	727	3,864	3,360
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(6)	(6)	(17)	(18)
Cost of sales	(6)	(6)	(17)	(18)
Excise taxes on products	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	0	0	0	0
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables	0	0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Operating income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0	0	0
Earnings before income taxes	0	0	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	(1,390)	(1,257)	(4,053)	(3,550)
Net earnings	(1,390)	(1,257)	(4,053)	(3,550)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(1,390)	(1,257)	(4,053)	(3,550)
Net earnings	(1,390)	(1,257)	(4,053)	(3,550)
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(45)	(35)	(155)	(92)
Comprehensive earnings	(1,435)	(1,292)	(4,208)	(3,642)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(1,435)	(1,292)	(4,208)	(3,642)
Altria Group, Inc. [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	0	0	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0	0	0
Excise taxes on products	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	60	61	155	148
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables	25	(48)	25	(48)
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	1	0	1
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Operating income (expense)	(85)	(14)	(180)	(101)
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	166	181	490	548
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		874		874
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	(255)	(230)	(738)	(973)
Earnings before income taxes	4	(839)	68	(550)
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(63)	(295)	(89)	(240)
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,329	1,201	3,890	3,387
Net earnings	1,396	657	4,047	3,077
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,396	657	4,047	3,077
Net earnings	1,396	657	4,047	3,077
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	107	70	(183)	283
Comprehensive earnings	1,503	727	3,864	3,360
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,503	727	3,864	3,360
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	5,627	5,444	15,967	16,090
Cost of sales	1,698	1,763	4,550	5,238
Excise taxes on products	1,728	1,706	4,936	5,117
Gross profit	2,201	1,975	6,481	5,735
Marketing, administration and research costs	517	464	1,384	1,382
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables	0	0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	9	1	45
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Operating income (expense)	1,684	1,502	5,096	4,308
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	3	(1)	2	(2)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0	0	0
Earnings before income taxes	1,681	1,503	5,094	4,310
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	628	527	1,890	1,567
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	61	56	163	163
Net earnings	1,114	1,032	3,367	2,906
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,114	1,032	3,367	2,906
Net earnings	1,114	1,032	3,367	2,906
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	4	4	16	10
Comprehensive earnings	1,118	1,036	3,383	2,916
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,118	1,036	3,383	2,916
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	932	804	2,436	2,304
Cost of sales	247	225	677	640
Excise taxes on products	65	70	191	219
Gross profit	620	509	1,568	1,445
Marketing, administration and research costs	82	23	184	148
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables	0	0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0	0	1
Amortization of intangibles	5	5	15	15
Operating income (expense)	533	481	1,369	1,281
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	100	102	302	322
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller	0	0	0	0
Earnings before income taxes	433	379	1,067	959
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	157	154	381	314
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net earnings	276	225	686	645
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	276	225	686	644
Net earnings	276	225	686	645
Other comprehensive earnings, net of deferred income taxes	41	31	139	82
Comprehensive earnings	317	256	825	727
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	$ 317	$ 256	$ 825	$ 726