Short-Term and Long-Term Debt (Short-Term Debt) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 909	$ 925
Weighted average interest rate on outstanding short-term debt	0.06%	0.11%
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	$ 18,687	$ 19,718
Commercial paper
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 372	$ 380
Weighted average maturity of outstanding commercial paper, in days	12 days	18 days
Long-term debt
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	$ 1,030	$ 1,027
Short-term Debt
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	1,409	1,425
Borrowings due overnight \| Commercial paper
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	105	75
Daily average outstanding \| Commercial paper
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	1,258	1,602
Prudential Financial
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	425	424
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	17,668	18,561
Prudential Financial \| Commercial paper
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	25	25
Prudential Funding, LLC \| Commercial paper
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	347	355
Mortgages
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	130	128
Line of Credit
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	7	18
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	7	18
Senior notes \| Long-term debt
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	400	399
Surplus notes subject to set-off arrangements
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	500	500
Assets Under Set-Off Arrangements
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	500	500
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	10,116	10,464
Fed Funds Effective Rate Overnight Index Swap Rate \| Senior notes
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	10,280	11,179
Fed Funds Effective Rate Overnight Index Swap Rate \| Surplus notes
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	344	343
Fed Funds Effective Rate Overnight Index Swap Rate \| Surplus notes subject to set-off arrangements
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	$ 7,786	$ 8,134

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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-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=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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