(Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 2,369	$ 3,321	$ 3,175	$ 2,900
Receivables	124	124
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	957	991
Other raw materials	181	200
Work in process	444	429
Finished product	449	420
Inventory, net	2,031	2,040
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	1,175	1,143
Other current assets	387	250
Total current assets	6,086	6,878
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	4,877	4,755
Less accumulated depreciation	2,895	2,772
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,982	1,983
Goodwill	5,285	5,285
Other intangible assets, net	12,028	12,049
Investment in SABMiller	5,483	6,183
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	1,239	1,614
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	432	483
Total Assets	32,535	34,475
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	4	1,000
Accounts payable	400	416
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	695	618
Employment costs	198	186
Settlement charges	3,590	3,500
Other	1,081	925
Dividends payable	1,110	1,028
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Total current liabilities	7,078	7,673
Long-term debt	12,915	13,693
Deferred income taxes	5,663	6,088
Accrued pension costs	1,277	1,012
Accrued postretirement health care costs	2,245	2,461
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	447	503
Total liabilities	$ 29,625	$ 31,430
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	$ 37	$ 35
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,813	5,735
Earnings reinvested in the business	27,257	26,277
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(3,280)	(2,682)	(1,378)	(2,040)
Cost of repurchased stock	(27,845)	(27,251)
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	2,880	3,014
Noncontrolling interests	(7)	(4)
Total stockholders’ equity	2,873	3,010	4,118	3,170
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	32,535	34,475
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	2,313	3,281	3,114	2,862
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	0	568
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other current assets	284	54
Total current assets	2,597	3,903
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	5,483	6,183
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	11,648	10,665
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,790	4,790
Other assets	92	148
Total Assets	24,610	25,689
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	0	1,000
Accounts payable	3	18
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Employment costs	18	18
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	354	321
Dividends payable	1,110	1,028
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	5,427	4,414
Total current liabilities	6,912	6,799
Long-term debt	12,903	13,693
Deferred income taxes	1,547	1,754
Accrued pension costs	215	233
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	153	196
Total liabilities	$ 21,730	$ 22,675
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	$ 0	$ 0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935	935
Additional paid-in capital	5,813	5,735
Earnings reinvested in the business	27,257	26,277
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(3,280)	(2,682)
Cost of repurchased stock	(27,845)	(27,251)
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	2,880	3,014
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	2,880	3,014
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	24,610	25,689
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	3	1	0
Receivables	7	6
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	562	616
Other raw materials	123	132
Work in process	5	4
Finished product	121	134
Inventory, net	811	886
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	3,821	3,535
Deferred income taxes	1,268	1,190
Other current assets	65	101
Total current assets	5,972	5,721
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	3,102	3,112
Less accumulated depreciation	2,157	2,091
Property, plant and equipment, net	945	1,021
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	2	2
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	2,715	2,775
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	536	541
Total Assets	10,170	10,060
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	104	118
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	586	505
Employment costs	11	10
Settlement charges	3,585	3,495
Other	616	400
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	191	402
Total current liabilities	5,093	4,930
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	1,460	1,608
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	126	151
Total liabilities	$ 6,679	$ 6,689
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	$ 0	$ 0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	3,310	3,310
Earnings reinvested in the business	436	402
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(255)	(341)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,491	3,371
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	3,491	3,371
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	10,170	10,060
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	56	37	60	38
Receivables	117	118
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	395	375
Other raw materials	58	68
Work in process	439	425
Finished product	328	286
Inventory, net	1,220	1,154
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	1,807	1,279
Deferred income taxes	7	9
Other current assets	112	122
Total current assets	3,319	2,719
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	1,775	1,643
Less accumulated depreciation	738	681
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,037	962
Goodwill	5,285	5,285
Other intangible assets, net	12,026	12,047
Investment in SABMiller	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	1,239	1,614
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	131	121
Total Assets	23,037	22,748
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	4	0
Accounts payable	293	280
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	109	113
Employment costs	169	158
Settlement charges	5	5
Other	285	287
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	10	566
Total current liabilities	875	1,409
Long-term debt	12	0
Deferred income taxes	4,443	4,661
Accrued pension costs	1,062	779
Accrued postretirement health care costs	785	853
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,790	4,790
Other liabilities	168	156
Total liabilities	$ 12,135	$ 12,648
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	$ 37	$ 35
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	9	9
Additional paid-in capital	11,456	10,688
Earnings reinvested in the business	1,099	995
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,692)	(1,623)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	10,872	10,069
Noncontrolling interests	(7)	(4)
Total stockholders’ equity	10,865	10,065
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	23,037	22,748
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
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	(5,628)	(5,382)
Deferred income taxes	(100)	(56)
Other current assets	(74)	(27)
Total current assets	(5,802)	(5,465)
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	(14,363)	(13,440)
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,790)	(4,790)
Other assets	(327)	(327)
Total Assets	(25,282)	(24,022)
Liabilities
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	(174)	(83)
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(5,628)	(5,382)
Total current liabilities	(5,802)	(5,465)
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(327)	(327)
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,790)	(4,790)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	$ (10,919)	$ (10,582)
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	$ 0	$ 0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	(9)	(9)
Additional paid-in capital	(14,766)	(13,998)
Earnings reinvested in the business	(1,535)	(1,397)
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	1,947	1,964
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(14,363)	(13,440)
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	(14,363)	(13,440)
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	$ (25,282)	$ (24,022)