Acquisitions, Divestitures, Collaborative Arrangement and Equity-Method Investment - Narrative (Detail) (USD $) Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				4 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Apr. 01, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 06, 2012 Hisun Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd [Member]	Apr. 26, 2013 Subsequent Event [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pfizer [Member] Hisun Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd [Member]	Sep. 06, 2012 Pfizer [Member] Hisun Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd [Member]	Jan. 28, 2013 Zoetis [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Zoetis [Member]	Nov. 30, 2012 Nutrition [Member]	Feb. 06, 2013 IPO [Member] Zoetis [Member]	Jan. 28, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] Zoetis [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] Zoetis [Member]	Nov. 27, 2012 NextWave Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Ferrosan Holding A/S [Member]	Feb. 26, 2012 Alacer Corp [Member]	Nov. 27, 2012 Developed Technology Rights [Member] NextWave Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member]	Nov. 27, 2012 In Process Research And Development [Member] NextWave Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member]
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Collaborative Arrangement, Payments Received					$ 60,000,000
Collaborative Arrangement, Collaborator's Revenue and Expense Ownership Percentage	60.00%
Collaborative Arrangement, Company's Revenue and Expense Ownership Percentage	40.00%
Business combination, consideration transferred, including equity interest in acquiree held prior to combination														442,000,000
Business combination, recognized identifiable assets acquired, goodwill, and liabilities assumed, net														519,000,000
Identifiable intangible assets, excluding in-process research and development																	474,000,000	45,000,000
Net deferred tax liabilities														166,000,000	94,000,000	69,000,000
Goodwill	43,752,000,000		44,672,000,000											89,000,000	322,000,000	192,000,000
Long-term Debt, Gross												3,650,000,000	3,650,000,000
Identifiable intangible assets															362,000,000	181,000,000
Debt instrument, unamortized discount												10,000,000
Initial public offering, long-term debt assumed, parent												1,000,000,000
Cash Proceeds From Exchange of Stock								2,500,000,000				2,500,000,000
Initial public offering, cash proceeds received, parent									6,100,000,000			2,650,000,000
Subsidiary or equity method investee, cumulative number of shares issued for all transactions											99,015
Repayments of Short-term Debt											2,500,000,000
Noncontrolling interest, ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners											19.80%
Proceeds from issuance of common stock											2,300,000,000
Sale price for discontinued operation										11,850,000,000
Net gains on asset disposals	(26,000,000)	(7,000,000)								(4,800,000,000)
Equity method investment summarized financial information, equity				250,000,000
Equity method investment, summarized financial information, current assets, cash							122,500,000
Equity method investment, ownership percentage						49.00%
Gain associated with Pfizer's equity-method investment in China	490,000,000	0				490,000,000
Equity method investment, summarized financial information, gain (loss) associated with indirect retained interest						240,000,000
Fair value inputs, discount rate						12.00%
Equity method investment, aggregate cost						1,300,000,000
Equity method investment, underlying equity in net assets						$ 686,000,000
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						25 years