Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2017
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 6,108	$ 6,083
Cost of sales	1,734	1,813
Excise taxes on products	1,438	1,494
Gross profit	2,936	2,776
Marketing, administration and research costs	618	533
Asset impairment and exit costs	2	4
Operating (expense) income	2,316	2,239
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	166	179
Net periodic benefit cost (income), excluding service cost	(7)	(8)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	(342)	(23)
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	33	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	2,466	2,091
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	571	689
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings	1,895	1,402
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,894	1,401
Net earnings	1,895	1,402
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(30)	(160)	$ 155
Comprehensive earnings	1,865	1,242
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,864	1,241
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Altria Group, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0
Excise taxes on products	0	0
Gross profit	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	38	40
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0
Operating (expense) income	(38)	(40)
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	122	123
Net periodic benefit cost (income), excluding service cost	1	0
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	(342)	(23)
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	33
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	148	(140)
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(13)	(72)
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,733	1,469
Net earnings	1,894	1,401
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,894	1,401
Net earnings	1,894	1,401
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(30)	(160)
Comprehensive earnings	1,864	1,241
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,864	1,241
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	5,214	5,271
Cost of sales	1,487	1,539
Excise taxes on products	1,383	1,446
Gross profit	2,344	2,286
Marketing, administration and research costs	449	382
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0
Operating (expense) income	1,895	1,904
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	(9)	0
Net periodic benefit cost (income), excluding service cost	(6)	(5)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,910	1,909
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	482	663
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	89	72
Net earnings	1,517	1,318
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,517	1,318
Net earnings	1,517	1,318
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	4	3
Comprehensive earnings	1,521	1,321
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	1,521	1,321
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	904	820
Cost of sales	257	282
Excise taxes on products	55	48
Gross profit	592	490
Marketing, administration and research costs	131	111
Asset impairment and exit costs	2	4
Operating (expense) income	459	375
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	53	56
Net periodic benefit cost (income), excluding service cost	(2)	(3)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	408	322
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	102	98
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings	306	224
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	305	223
Net earnings	306	224
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	39	28
Comprehensive earnings	345	252
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	344	251
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(10)	(8)
Cost of sales	(10)	(8)
Excise taxes on products	0	0
Gross profit	0	0
Marketing, administration and research costs	0	0
Asset impairment and exit costs	0	0
Operating (expense) income	0	0
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	0	0
Net periodic benefit cost (income), excluding service cost	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	(1,822)	(1,541)
Net earnings	(1,822)	(1,541)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	(1,822)	(1,541)
Net earnings	(1,822)	(1,541)
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(43)	(31)
Comprehensive earnings	(1,865)	(1,572)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria Group, Inc.	$ (1,865)	$ (1,572)