Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2013 Common Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Stock [Member]	Jan. 31, 2013 Class B Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Class B Stock [Member]
Document And Entity [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	PRU
Entity Registrant Name	PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC
Entity Central Index Key	0001137774
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			463,000,000	464,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Public Float		$ 22,470,000,000
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes