Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 6,619	$ 6,305	$ 12,247	$ 12,413
Cost of sales	1,874	1,738	3,452	3,472
Excise taxes on products	1,426	1,426	2,665	2,864
Gross profit	3,319	3,141	6,130	6,077
Marketing, administration and research costs	569	641	1,102	1,259
Asset impairment and exit costs	33	2	73	4
Operating income (expense)	2,717	2,498	4,955	4,814
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	312	178	696	344
Net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost	(15)	(9)	(16)	(16)
Earnings from equity investments	(447)	(228)	(533)	(570)
Loss on Cronos-related financial instruments	266		691
Loss on ABI/SABMiller business combination	0	0	0	33
Earnings (losses) before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	2,601	2,557	4,117	5,023
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	604	680	999	1,251
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net earnings	1,997	1,877	3,118	3,772
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(2)	(2)
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,996	1,876	3,116	3,770
Net earnings	1,997	1,877	3,118	3,772
Other comprehensive earnings (losses), net of deferred income taxes	71	275	(99)	245
Comprehensive earnings	2,068	2,152	3,019	4,017
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(2)	(2)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	2,067	2,151	3,017	4,015
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [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	49	39	84	77
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0	1	0
Operating income (expense)	(49)	(39)	(85)	(77)
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	279	129	634	251
Net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost	0	1	1	2
Earnings from equity investments	(302)	(228)	(388)	(570)
Loss on Cronos-related financial instruments	0		0
Loss on ABI/SABMiller business combination				33
Earnings (losses) before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	(26)	59	(332)	207
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	(12)	59	(87)	46
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	2,010	1,876	3,361	3,609
Net earnings	1,996	1,876	3,116	3,770
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,996	1,876	3,116	3,770
Net earnings	1,996	1,876	3,116	3,770
Other comprehensive earnings (losses), net of deferred income taxes	71	275	(99)	245
Comprehensive earnings	2,067	2,151	3,017	4,015
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	2,067	2,151	3,017	4,015
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	5,611	5,314	10,336	10,528
Cost of sales	1,610	1,443	2,950	2,930
Excise taxes on products	1,373	1,371	2,558	2,754
Gross profit	2,628	2,500	4,828	4,844
Marketing, administration and research costs	405	460	789	909
Asset impairment and exit costs	3	0	38	0
Operating income (expense)	2,220	2,040	4,001	3,935
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	(19)	(8)	(44)	(17)
Net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost	(13)	(9)	(13)	(15)
Earnings from equity investments	0	0	0	0
Loss on Cronos-related financial instruments	0		0
Loss on ABI/SABMiller business combination				0
Earnings (losses) before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	2,252	2,057	4,058	3,967
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	561	516	1,020	998
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	114	102	209	191
Net earnings	1,805	1,643	3,247	3,160
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,805	1,643	3,247	3,160
Net earnings	1,805	1,643	3,247	3,160
Other comprehensive earnings (losses), net of deferred income taxes	4	4	9	8
Comprehensive earnings	1,809	1,647	3,256	3,168
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	1,809	1,647	3,256	3,168
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	1,016	999	1,929	1,903
Cost of sales	272	303	520	560
Excise taxes on products	53	55	107	110
Gross profit	691	641	1,302	1,233
Marketing, administration and research costs	115	142	229	273
Asset impairment and exit costs	30	2	34	4
Operating income (expense)	546	497	1,039	956
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	52	57	106	110
Net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost	(2)	(1)	(4)	(3)
Earnings from equity investments	(145)	0	(145)	0
Loss on Cronos-related financial instruments	266		691
Loss on ABI/SABMiller business combination				0
Earnings (losses) before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	375	441	391	849
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	55	105	66	207
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net earnings	320	336	325	642
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(2)	(2)
Net earnings attributable to Altria	319	335	323	640
Net earnings	320	336	325	642
Other comprehensive earnings (losses), net of deferred income taxes	35	34	58	73
Comprehensive earnings	355	370	383	715
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(2)	(2)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	354	369	381	713
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(8)	(8)	(18)	(18)
Cost of sales	(8)	(8)	(18)	(18)
Excise taxes on products	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	0	0	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0	0	0
Operating income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	0	0	0	0
Net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost	0	0	0	0
Earnings from equity investments	0	0	0	0
Loss on Cronos-related financial instruments	0		0
Loss on ABI/SABMiller business combination				0
Earnings (losses) before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	(2,124)	(1,978)	(3,570)	(3,800)
Net earnings	(2,124)	(1,978)	(3,570)	(3,800)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	(2,124)	(1,978)	(3,570)	(3,800)
Net earnings	(2,124)	(1,978)	(3,570)	(3,800)
Other comprehensive earnings (losses), net of deferred income taxes	(39)	(38)	(67)	(81)
Comprehensive earnings	(2,163)	(2,016)	(3,637)	(3,881)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	$ (2,163)	$ (2,016)	$ (3,637)	$ (3,881)