Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 6,318	$ 6,699	$ 6,613	$ 5,804	$ 6,258	$ 6,491	$ 6,256	$ 5,517	$ 25,434	$ 24,522	$ 24,466
Cost of sales									7,740	7,785	7,206
Excise taxes on products									6,580	6,577	6,803
Gross profit	2,722	3,046	2,871	2,475	2,627	2,674	2,603	2,256	11,114	10,160	10,457
Marketing, administration and research costs									2,708	2,539	2,340
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables									41	2	22
Asset impairment and exit costs									4	(1)	11
Operating income									8,361	7,620	8,084
Interest and other debt expense, net									817	808	1,049
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	228	44	0	0	0	228	44	1,084
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									(757)	(1,006)	(991)
Other income, net	(5)	0	0	0					(5)	0	0
Earnings before income taxes									8,078	7,774	6,942
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									2,835	2,704	2,407
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net earnings	1,248	1,528	1,449	1,018	1,236	1,397	1,262	1,175	5,243	5,070	4,535
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(2)	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	$ 1,247	$ 1,528	$ 1,448	$ 1,018	$ 1,236	$ 1,397	$ 1,262	$ 1,175	5,241	5,070	4,535
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(598)	(1,304)	662
Comprehensive earnings									4,645	3,766	5,197
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(2)	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,643	3,766	5,197
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									0	0	0
Cost of sales									0	0	0
Excise taxes on products									0	0	0
Gross profit									0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs									189	231	223
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables									41	2	25
Asset impairment and exit costs									0	0	0
Operating income									(230)	(233)	(248)
Interest and other debt expense, net									560	614	643
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									228	0	1,084
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									(757)	(1,006)	(991)
Other income, net									(5)
Earnings before income taxes									(256)	159	(984)
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									(184)	(119)	(488)
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									5,313	4,792	5,031
Net earnings									5,241	5,070	4,535
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									5,241	5,070	4,535
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(598)	(1,304)	662
Comprehensive earnings									4,643	3,766	5,197
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,643	3,766	5,197
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									22,133	21,298	21,231
Cost of sales									6,664	6,722	6,281
Excise taxes on products									6,369	6,358	6,553
Gross profit									9,100	8,218	8,397
Marketing, administration and research costs									2,094	1,889	1,837
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables									0	0	(3)
Asset impairment and exit costs									0	(6)	3
Operating income									7,006	6,335	6,560
Interest and other debt expense, net									33	(46)	2
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Other income, net									0
Earnings before income taxes									6,973	6,381	6,558
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									2,536	2,381	2,406
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									268	244	216
Net earnings									4,705	4,244	4,368
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,705	4,244	4,368
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									86	(110)	198
Comprehensive earnings									4,791	4,134	4,566
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,791	4,134	4,566
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									3,342	3,267	3,269
Cost of sales									1,117	1,106	959
Excise taxes on products									211	219	250
Gross profit									2,014	1,942	2,060
Marketing, administration and research costs									425	419	280
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables									0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs									4	5	8
Operating income									1,585	1,518	1,772
Interest and other debt expense, net									224	240	404
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	44	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Other income, net									0
Earnings before income taxes									1,361	1,234	1,368
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									483	442	489
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net earnings									878	792	879
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(2)	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									876	792	879
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(69)	(642)	910
Comprehensive earnings									809	150	1,789
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(2)	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									807	150	1,789
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									(41)	(43)	(34)
Cost of sales									(41)	(43)	(34)
Excise taxes on products									0	0	0
Gross profit									0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs									0	0	0
Changes to Mondelēz and PMI tax-related receivables/payables									0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs									0	0	0
Operating income									0	0	0
Interest and other debt expense, net									0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Other income, net									0
Earnings before income taxes									0	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									0	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									(5,581)	(5,036)	(5,247)
Net earnings									(5,581)	(5,036)	(5,247)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									(5,581)	(5,036)	(5,247)
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(17)	752	(1,108)
Comprehensive earnings									(5,598)	(4,284)	(6,355)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									$ (5,598)	$ (4,284)	$ (6,355)