SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Schedule of Common Stock Outstanding Roll Forward

The following table is a reconciliation of the number of shares of the Company's common stock for the years ended December 31.

(In thousands of shares)	2012	2011	2010
Common stock - issued:
Balance, beginning of period	663,639	662,660	661,209
Exercise of stock options and issuance of restricted shares	1,600	979	1,451
Balance, end of period	665,239	663,639	662,660
Treasury stock:
Balance, beginning of period	197,329	192,999	192,641
Purchases of treasury stock:
Open market	1,948	6,000	2,000
Other	360	182	192
Dispositions of treasury stock:
Shares issued to AFL Stock Plan	(1,670)	(1,690)	0
Exercise of stock options	(387)	(88)	(1,752)
Other	(127)	(74)	(82)
Balance, end of period	197,453	197,329	192,999
Shares outstanding, end of period	467,786	466,310	469,661

Schedule of Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share

The following table presents the approximate number of share-based awards to purchase shares, on a weighted-average basis, that were considered to be anti-dilutive and were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share at December 31:

(In thousands)	2012		2011		2010
Anti-dilutive share-based awards		5,880		6,145		3,252

Schedule of Weighted Average Number of Shares

The weighted-average shares used in calculating earnings per share for the years ended December 31 were as follows:

(In thousands of shares)	2012	2011	2010
Weighted-average outstanding shares used for calculating basic EPS	466,868	466,519	469,038
Dilutive effect of share-based awards	2,419	2,851	4,047
Weighted-average outstanding shares used for calculating diluted EPS	469,287	469,370	473,085