Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets) (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,253,000,000	$ 4,569,000,000	$ 2,369,000,000	$ 3,321,000,000
Receivables	142,000,000	151,000,000
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	941,000,000	892,000,000
Other raw materials	170,000,000	164,000,000
Work in process	560,000,000	512,000,000
Finished product	554,000,000	483,000,000
Inventory, net	2,225,000,000	2,051,000,000
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Income taxes	461,000,000	269,000,000
Other current assets	263,000,000	220,000,000
Total current assets	4,344,000,000	7,260,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	4,879,000,000	4,835,000,000
Less accumulated depreciation	2,965,000,000	2,877,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,914,000,000	1,958,000,000
Goodwill	5,307,000,000	5,285,000,000
Other intangible assets, net	12,400,000,000	12,036,000,000
Investment in AB InBev	17,952,000,000	17,852,000,000
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	899,000,000	1,028,000,000
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	386,000,000	513,000,000
Total Assets	43,202,000,000	45,932,000,000
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	864,000,000	0
Accounts payable	374,000,000	425,000,000
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	695,000,000	747,000,000
Employment costs	188,000,000	289,000,000
Settlement charges	2,442,000,000	3,701,000,000
Other	971,000,000	1,025,000,000
Dividends payable	1,258,000,000	1,188,000,000
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Total current liabilities	6,792,000,000	7,375,000,000
Long-term debt	13,030,000,000	13,881,000,000
Deferred income taxes	5,247,000,000	8,416,000,000
Accrued pension costs	445,000,000	805,000,000
Accrued postretirement health care costs	1,987,000,000	2,217,000,000
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	283,000,000	427,000,000
Total liabilities	27,784,000,000	33,121,000,000
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	38,000,000	38,000,000
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935,000,000	935,000,000
Additional paid-in capital	5,952,000,000	5,893,000,000
Earnings reinvested in the business	42,251,000,000	36,906,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,897,000,000)	(2,052,000,000)
Cost of repurchased stock	(31,864,000,000)	(28,912,000,000)
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	15,377,000,000	12,770,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	3,000,000	3,000,000
Total stockholders’ equity	15,380,000,000	12,773,000,000	2,873,000,000	3,010,000,000
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	43,202,000,000	45,932,000,000
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	1,203,000,000	4,521,000,000	2,313,000,000	3,281,000,000
Receivables	1,000,000	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	2,000,000	0
Income taxes	0	167,000,000
Other current assets	11,000,000	3,000,000
Total current assets	1,217,000,000	4,691,000,000
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 AB InBev	17,952,000,000	17,852,000,000
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	13,111,000,000	11,636,000,000
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,790,000,000	4,790,000,000
Other assets	34,000,000	18,000,000
Total Assets	37,104,000,000	38,987,000,000
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	864,000,000
Accounts payable	2,000,000	1,000,000
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Employment costs	21,000,000	104,000,000
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	389,000,000	261,000,000
Dividends payable	1,258,000,000	1,188,000,000
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	3,040,000,000	5,030,000,000
Total current liabilities	5,574,000,000	6,584,000,000
Long-term debt	13,030,000,000	13,881,000,000
Deferred income taxes	2,809,000,000	5,424,000,000
Accrued pension costs	206,000,000	207,000,000
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	108,000,000	121,000,000
Total liabilities	21,727,000,000	26,217,000,000
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	935,000,000	935,000,000
Additional paid-in capital	5,952,000,000	5,893,000,000
Earnings reinvested in the business	42,251,000,000	36,906,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,897,000,000)	(2,052,000,000)
Cost of repurchased stock	(31,864,000,000)	(28,912,000,000)
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	15,377,000,000	12,770,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	15,377,000,000	12,770,000,000
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	37,104,000,000	38,987,000,000
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	1,000,000	1,000,000	0	3,000,000
Receivables	10,000,000	8,000,000
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	579,000,000	541,000,000
Other raw materials	111,000,000	111,000,000
Work in process	5,000,000	3,000,000
Finished product	128,000,000	112,000,000
Inventory, net	823,000,000	767,000,000
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	2,413,000,000	3,797,000,000
Income taxes	542,000,000	10,000,000
Other current assets	147,000,000	108,000,000
Total current assets	3,936,000,000	4,691,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	2,930,000,000	2,971,000,000
Less accumulated depreciation	2,086,000,000	2,073,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, net	844,000,000	898,000,000
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	2,000,000	2,000,000
Investment in AB InBev	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	2,818,000,000	2,632,000,000
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	671,000,000	1,748,000,000
Total Assets	8,271,000,000	9,971,000,000
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	0
Accounts payable	91,000,000	92,000,000
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	578,000,000	619,000,000
Employment costs	14,000,000	14,000,000
Settlement charges	2,437,000,000	3,696,000,000
Other	433,000,000	438,000,000
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	317,000,000	237,000,000
Total current liabilities	3,870,000,000	5,096,000,000
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	1,214,000,000	1,453,000,000
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other liabilities	49,000,000	146,000,000
Total liabilities	5,133,000,000	6,695,000,000
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	3,310,000,000	3,310,000,000
Earnings reinvested in the business	96,000,000	237,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(268,000,000)	(271,000,000)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	3,138,000,000	3,276,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	3,138,000,000	3,276,000,000
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	8,271,000,000	9,971,000,000
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	49,000,000	47,000,000	56,000,000	37,000,000
Receivables	131,000,000	143,000,000
Inventories:
Leaf tobacco	362,000,000	351,000,000
Other raw materials	59,000,000	53,000,000
Work in process	555,000,000	509,000,000
Finished product	426,000,000	371,000,000
Inventory, net	1,402,000,000	1,284,000,000
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	1,022,000,000	1,511,000,000
Income taxes	17,000,000	92,000,000
Other current assets	105,000,000	109,000,000
Total current assets	2,726,000,000	3,186,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	1,949,000,000	1,864,000,000
Less accumulated depreciation	879,000,000	804,000,000
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,070,000,000	1,060,000,000
Goodwill	5,307,000,000	5,285,000,000
Other intangible assets, net	12,398,000,000	12,034,000,000
Investment in AB InBev	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Finance assets, net	899,000,000	1,028,000,000
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets	157,000,000	131,000,000
Total Assets	22,557,000,000	22,724,000,000
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	0
Accounts payable	281,000,000	332,000,000
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	117,000,000	128,000,000
Employment costs	153,000,000	171,000,000
Settlement charges	5,000,000	5,000,000
Other	247,000,000	326,000,000
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	80,000,000	41,000,000
Total current liabilities	883,000,000	1,003,000,000
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	2,914,000,000	4,376,000,000
Accrued pension costs	239,000,000	598,000,000
Accrued postretirement health care costs	773,000,000	764,000,000
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	4,790,000,000	4,790,000,000
Other liabilities	126,000,000	160,000,000
Total liabilities	9,725,000,000	11,691,000,000
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	38,000,000	38,000,000
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	9,000,000	9,000,000
Additional paid-in capital	12,045,000,000	11,585,000,000
Earnings reinvested in the business	2,243,000,000	1,118,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	(1,506,000,000)	(1,720,000,000)
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	12,791,000,000	10,992,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	3,000,000	3,000,000
Total stockholders’ equity	12,794,000,000	10,995,000,000
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	22,557,000,000	22,724,000,000
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	(3,437,000,000)	(5,308,000,000)
Income taxes	(98,000,000)	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(3,535,000,000)	(5,308,000,000)
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 AB InBev	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	(15,929,000,000)	(14,268,000,000)
Finance assets, net	0	0
Due from Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,790,000,000)	(4,790,000,000)
Other assets	(476,000,000)	(1,384,000,000)
Total Assets	(24,730,000,000)	(25,750,000,000)
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities:
Marketing	0	0
Employment costs	0	0
Settlement charges	0	0
Other	(98,000,000)	0
Dividends payable	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(3,437,000,000)	(5,308,000,000)
Total current liabilities	(3,535,000,000)	(5,308,000,000)
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(476,000,000)	(1,384,000,000)
Accrued pension costs	0	0
Accrued postretirement health care costs	0	0
Due to Altria Group, Inc. and subsidiaries	(4,790,000,000)	(4,790,000,000)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	(8,801,000,000)	(11,482,000,000)
Contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock	(9,000,000)	(9,000,000)
Additional paid-in capital	(15,355,000,000)	(14,895,000,000)
Earnings reinvested in the business	(2,339,000,000)	(1,355,000,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive losses	1,774,000,000	1,991,000,000
Cost of repurchased stock	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(15,929,000,000)	(14,268,000,000)
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	(15,929,000,000)	(14,268,000,000)
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	$ (24,730,000,000)	$ (25,750,000,000)