Schedule II - Condensed Financial Information of Registrant (Short and Long-Term Debt) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 1,380	$ 1,133
Long-term debt	$ 17,172	$ 18,041
Commercial Paper, Weighted Average Interest Rate	0.99%	0.43%
Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	5.90%
Commercial Paper
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 550	$ 590
Current portion of long-term debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	830	543
Prudential Financial
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	880	535
Long-term debt	15,304	15,389
Prudential Financial \| Commercial Paper
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 50	$ 65
Commercial Paper, Weighted Average Interest Rate	1.15%	0.60%
Prudential Financial \| Current portion of long-term debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 830	$ 470
Prudential Financial \| Junior subordinated debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 6,566	5,817
Prudential Financial \| Minimum \| Junior subordinated debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	4.50%
Prudential Financial \| Maximum \| Junior subordinated debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	8.88%
Fixed rate \| Prudential Financial \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 8,709	9,064
Fixed rate \| Prudential Financial \| Minimum \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.35%
Fixed rate \| Prudential Financial \| Maximum \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	7.38%
Floating rate debt \| Prudential Financial \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 29	$ 508
Floating rate debt \| Prudential Financial \| Minimum \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	3.46%
Floating rate debt \| Prudential Financial \| Maximum \| Senior notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate	5.49%

Amount of short-term debt and current maturity of long-term debt and capital lease obligations due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19,20)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Amount after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs of long-term debt classified as noncurrent and excluding amounts to be repaid within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Weighted average interest rate of short-term debt outstanding calculated at point in time.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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