Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Assets [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 3,775	$ 2,900	$ 4,156	$ 3,270
Receivables	112	193
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	864	876
Other raw materials	174	173
Work in process	339	349
Finished product	439	348
Inventory, net	1,816	1,746
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	1,216	1,216
Other current assets	197	260
Total current assets	7,116	6,315
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	4,763	4,750
Less accumulated depreciation	2,695	2,648
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,068	2,102
Goodwill	5,174	5,174
Other intangible assets, net	12,073	12,078
Investment in SABMiller	6,749	6,637
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	2,385	2,581
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	441	442
TOTAL ASSETS	36,006	35,329
Liabilities [Abstract]
Current portion of long-term debt	1,984	1,459
Accounts payable	259	451
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	468	568
Employment costs	126	184
Settlement charges	4,143	3,616
Other	1,032	1,093
Income taxes	600	0
Dividends payable	886	888
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Total current liabilities	9,498	8,259
Long-term debt	11,894	12,419
Deferred income taxes	6,657	6,652
Accrued pension costs	1,323	1,735
Accrued postretirement health care costs	2,501	2,504
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other liabilities	528	556
Total liabilities	32,401	32,125
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	35	34
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,656	5,688
Earnings reinvested in the business	24,817	24,316
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(2,068)	(2,040)	(1,685)	(1,887)
Cost of repurchased stock	(25,771)	(25,731)
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,569	3,168
Noncontrolling interests	1	2
Total stockholders' equity	3,570	3,170		3,683
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	36,006	35,329
Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Assets [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	3,745	2,862	4,140	3,245
Receivables	21	101
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	0	0
Other raw materials	0	0
Work in process	0	0
Finished product	0	0
Inventory, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	5,634	834
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other current assets	240	0
Total current assets	9,640	3,797
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	2	2
Less accumulated depreciation	2	2
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Investment in SABMiller	6,749	6,637
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	9,653	9,521
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		4,500
Other assets	136	136
TOTAL ASSETS	26,178	24,591
Liabilities [Abstract]
Current portion of long-term debt	1,984	1,459
Accounts payable	0	4
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Employment costs	74	27
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	353	469
Income taxes	0
Dividends payable	886	888
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	5,227	3,965
Total current liabilities	8,524	6,812
Long-term debt	11,595	12,120
Deferred income taxes	2,075	2,034
Accrued pension costs	231	235
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other liabilities	184	222
Total liabilities	22,609	21,423
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,656	5,688
Earnings reinvested in the business	24,817	24,316
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(2,068)	(2,040)
Cost of repurchased stock	(25,771)	(25,731)
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,569	3,168
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	3,569	3,168
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	26,178	24,591
PM USA [Member]
Assets [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables	9	7
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	489	512
Other raw materials	124	127
Work in process	7	3
Finished product	206	117
Inventory, net	826	759
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,253	3,424
Deferred income taxes	1,246	1,246
Other current assets	81	193
Total current assets	6,415	5,629
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	3,256	3,253
Less accumulated depreciation	2,100	2,073
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,156	1,180
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	2	2
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	3,009	3,018
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	534	530
TOTAL ASSETS	11,116	10,359
Liabilities [Abstract]
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	125	155
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	444	526
Employment costs	7	10
Settlement charges	4,137	3,610
Other	467	506
Income taxes	666
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	180	409
Total current liabilities	6,026	5,216
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	1,750	1,759
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other liabilities	185	178
Total liabilities	7,961	7,153
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	3,321	3,321
Earnings reinvested in the business	255	314
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(421)	(429)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,155	3,206
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	3,155	3,206
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	11,116	10,359
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Assets [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	30	38	16	25
Receivables	82	85
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	375	364
Other raw materials	50	46
Work in process	332	346
Finished product	233	231
Inventory, net	990	987
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	1,216	1,171
Deferred income taxes	16	16
Other current assets	109	175
Total current assets	2,443	2,472
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	1,505	1,495
Less accumulated depreciation	593	573
Property, plant and equipment, net	912	922
Goodwill	5,174	5,174
Other intangible assets, net	12,071	12,076
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	2,385	2,581
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		0
Other assets	137	141
TOTAL ASSETS	23,122	23,366
Liabilities [Abstract]
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	134	292
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	24	42
Employment costs	45	147
Settlement charges	6	6
Other	258	272
Income taxes	167
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	5,696	1,055
Total current liabilities	6,330	1,814
Long-term debt	299	299
Deferred income taxes	4,948	4,983
Accrued pension costs	1,092	1,500
Accrued postretirement health care costs	751	745
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		4,500
Other liabilities	159	156
Total liabilities	13,579	13,997
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	35	34
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	9	9
Additional paid-in capital	10,272	10,272
Earnings reinvested in the business	1,058	943
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,832)	(1,891)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	9,507	9,333
Noncontrolling interests	1	2
Total stockholders' equity	9,508	9,335
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	23,122	23,366
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Assets [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables	0	0
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	0	0
Other raw materials	0	0
Work in process	0	0
Finished product	0	0
Inventory, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(11,103)	(5,429)
Deferred income taxes	(46)	(46)
Other current assets	(233)	(108)
Total current assets	(11,382)	(5,583)
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	0	0
Less accumulated depreciation	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	(12,662)	(12,539)
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		(4,500)
Other assets	(366)	(365)
TOTAL ASSETS	(24,410)	(22,987)
Liabilities [Abstract]
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Employment costs	0	0
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	(46)	(154)
Income taxes	(233)
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(11,103)	(5,429)
Total current liabilities	(11,382)	(5,583)
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(366)	(365)
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries		(4,500)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	(11,748)	(10,448)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	(9)	(9)
Additional paid-in capital	(13,593)	(13,593)
Earnings reinvested in the business	(1,313)	(1,257)
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	2,253	2,320
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(12,662)	(12,539)
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	(12,662)	(12,539)
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY	$ (24,410)	$ (22,987)