Amount of judgment or settlement awarded to (against) the entity in respect of litigation.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of loss pertaining to the specified contingency that was charged against earnings in the period, including the effects of revisions in previously reported estimates.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total number of new claims filed pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The interest rate at which post judgment amounts will accrue, by operation of law, from the date of the judgment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wmt_RateOfPostJudgmentInterestAccrual
Namespace Prefix:	wmt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=wmt_BraunHummelLawsuitMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=wmt_AsdaEqualValueLawsuitDomain
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type:

Contingencies (Details) $ in Millions				12 Months Ended
Contingencies (Details) $ in Millions	Dec. 15, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 14, 2007 USD ($)	Oct. 13, 2006 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2016
Braun Hummel lawsuit
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss contingency, loss in period			$ 78
Litigation settlement, gross	$ 249	$ 188
Rate of post-judgment interest accrual		6.00%
Asda equal value lawsuit
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss contingency, claims filed, number				7,000