Variable Interest Entities (Assets and Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs	[1]	$ 1,517	$ 2,150
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs	[2]	4,198	4,924
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs		$ 1,946	$ 2,761
VIEs Liabilities, maturities obligations (greater than)		5 years	5 years
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Trading account assets supporting insurance liabilities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		$ 0	$ 0
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Other trading account assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		1,637	2,140
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Commercial mortgage and other loans
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		564	503
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Other long-term investments
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		1,243	1,083
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Cash and cash equivalents
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		149	618
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Accrued investment income
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		7	10
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Other assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		419	424
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Notes Issued by Consolidated VIEs
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs	[3]	1,517	2,150
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Other liabilities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs		429	611
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Available-for-sale | Fixed maturities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		95	65
Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager | Held-to-maturity | Fixed maturities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		84	81
Other Consolidated VIEs
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		1,208	1,181
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs		0	7
Other Consolidated VIEs | Trading account assets supporting insurance liabilities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		9	9
Other Consolidated VIEs | Other trading account assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		0	0
Other Consolidated VIEs | Commercial mortgage and other loans
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		0	0
Other Consolidated VIEs | Other long-term investments
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		107	114
Other Consolidated VIEs | Cash and cash equivalents
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		0	1
Other Consolidated VIEs | Accrued investment income
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		3	4
Other Consolidated VIEs | Other assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		0	1
Other Consolidated VIEs | Notes Issued by Consolidated VIEs
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs		0	0
Other Consolidated VIEs | Other liabilities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities of consolidated VIEs		0	7
Other Consolidated VIEs | Available-for-sale | Fixed maturities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		278	269
Other Consolidated VIEs | Held-to-maturity | Fixed maturities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		811	783
ASU 2015-02, Wholly-owned by consolidated subsidiaries | Consolidated VIEs for Which the Company is the Investment Manager
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets of consolidated VIEs		$ 1,631	$ 1,386

[1] See Note 5 for details of balances associated with variable interest entities.

[2] Total assets of consolidated VIEs reflects $1,631 million and $1,386 million as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, related to VIEs whose beneficial interests are wholly-owned by consolidated subsidiaries.

[3] Recourse is limited to the assets of the respective VIE and does not extend to the general credit of Prudential Financial. As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the maturities of these obligations were greater than five years.