Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 6,252	$ 6,905	$ 6,521	$ 6,066	$ 6,318	$ 6,699	$ 6,613	$ 5,804	$ 25,744	$ 25,434	$ 24,522
Cost of sales									7,746	7,740	7,785
Excise taxes on products									6,407	6,580	6,577
Gross profit	2,828	3,150	2,957	2,656	2,722	3,046	2,871	2,475	11,591	11,114	10,160
Marketing, administration and research costs									2,650	2,708	2,539
Reductions of PMI and Mondelēz tax-related receivables									0	41	2
Asset impairment and exit costs									179	4	(1)
Operating (expense) income									8,762	8,361	7,620
Interest and other debt expense, net									747	817	808
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	823	0	0	0	0	0	228	823	228	44
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									(795)	(757)	(1,006)
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	(13,660)	(48)	(117)	(40)	(5)	0	0	0	(13,865)	(5)	0
Earnings before income taxes									21,852	8,078	7,774
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									7,608	2,835	2,704
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net earnings	10,278	1,094	1,654	1,218	1,248	1,528	1,449	1,018	14,244	5,243	5,070
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(5)	(2)	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	$ 10,276	$ 1,093	$ 1,653	$ 1,217	$ 1,247	$ 1,528	$ 1,448	$ 1,018	14,239	5,241	5,070
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									1,228	(598)	(1,304)
Comprehensive earnings									15,472	4,645	3,766
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(5)	(2)	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									15,467	4,643	3,766
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									0	0	0
Cost of sales									0	0	0
Excise taxes on products									0	0	0
Gross profit									0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs									165	189	231
Reductions of PMI and Mondelēz tax-related receivables										41	2
Asset impairment and exit costs									5	0	0
Operating (expense) income									(170)	(230)	(233)
Interest and other debt expense, net									519	560	614
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									823	228	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									(795)	(757)	(1,006)
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination									(13,865)	(5)
Earnings before income taxes									13,148	(256)	159
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									4,453	(184)	(119)
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									5,544	5,313	4,792
Net earnings									14,239	5,241	5,070
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									14,239	5,241	5,070
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									1,228	(598)	(1,304)
Comprehensive earnings									15,467	4,643	3,766
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									15,467	4,643	3,766
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									22,146	22,133	21,298
Cost of sales									6,628	6,664	6,722
Excise taxes on products									6,187	6,369	6,358
Gross profit									9,331	9,100	8,218
Marketing, administration and research costs									1,996	2,094	1,889
Reductions of PMI and Mondelēz tax-related receivables										0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs									97	0	(6)
Operating (expense) income									7,238	7,006	6,335
Interest and other debt expense, net									10	33	(46)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination									0	0
Earnings before income taxes									7,228	6,973	6,381
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									2,631	2,536	2,381
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									268	268	244
Net earnings									4,865	4,705	4,244
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,865	4,705	4,244
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(16)	86	(110)
Comprehensive earnings									4,849	4,791	4,134
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									4,849	4,791	4,134
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									3,633	3,342	3,267
Cost of sales									1,153	1,117	1,106
Excise taxes on products									220	211	219
Gross profit									2,260	2,014	1,942
Marketing, administration and research costs									489	425	419
Reductions of PMI and Mondelēz tax-related receivables										0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs									77	4	5
Operating (expense) income									1,694	1,585	1,518
Interest and other debt expense, net									218	224	240
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	44
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination									0	0
Earnings before income taxes									1,476	1,361	1,234
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									524	483	442
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net earnings									952	878	792
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(5)	(2)	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									947	876	792
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									(28)	(69)	(642)
Comprehensive earnings									924	809	150
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									(5)	(2)	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									919	807	150
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues									(35)	(41)	(43)
Cost of sales									(35)	(41)	(43)
Excise taxes on products									0	0	0
Gross profit									0	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs									0	0	0
Reductions of PMI and Mondelēz tax-related receivables										0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs									0	0	0
Operating (expense) income									0	0	0
Interest and other debt expense, net									0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in SABMiller									0	0	0
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination									0	0
Earnings before income taxes									0	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes									0	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries									(5,812)	(5,581)	(5,036)
Net earnings									(5,812)	(5,581)	(5,036)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									(5,812)	(5,581)	(5,036)
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes									44	(17)	752
Comprehensive earnings									(5,768)	(5,598)	(4,284)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.									$ (5,768)	$ (5,598)	$ (4,284)