Amount of cash paid to acquire the entity.

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The amount of acquisition cost of a business combination allocated to assets acquired.

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Amount of goodwill arising from a business combination, which is the excess of the cost of the acquired entity over the amounts assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

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-Name Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF)

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Represents the number of stores.

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The cash outflow associated with the purchase of noncontrolling interest during the period.

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Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details)				1 Months Ended
Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details)	Feb. 28, 2007	Apr. 30, 2011 Netto Food Stores Limited [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Netto Food Stores Limited [Member] GBP (£)	Jun. 30, 2011 Massmart Holdings Limited [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Massmart Holdings Limited [Member] ZAR	Feb. 28, 2007 Bounteous Company Limited [Member]	Feb. 28, 2007 Initial Interest [Member] Bounteous Company Limited [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2012 Additional Consideration [Member] Bounteous Company Limited [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2007 Additional Consideration [Member] Bounteous Company Limited [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Sub-Saharan African [Member] Massmart Holdings Limited [Member] stores	Apr. 30, 2011 United Kingdom [Member] Netto Food Stores Limited [Member] stores
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Equity Method investment, Initial Ownership Percentage	35.00%
Ownership percentage				51.00%
Cost of acquisition							$ 264,000,000	$ 101,000,000	$ 376,000,000
Equity Method Investment, Additional Ownership Percentage						30.00%
Purchase price		1,200,000,000	750,000,000	2,500,000,000	16,900,000,000
Assets acquired		1,300,000,000		6,900,000,000
Goodwill		748,000,000		3,100,000,000
Liabilities assumed		103,000,000		2,400,000,000
Non-controlling interest				$ 2,000,000,000
Number of stores										290	147