Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 5,628	$ 6,108
Cost of sales	1,578	1,734
Excise taxes on products	1,239	1,438
Gross profit	2,811	2,936
Marketing, administration and research costs	533	618
Asset impairment and exit costs	40	2
Operating (expense) income	2,238	2,316
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	384	166
Net periodic benefit income, excluding service cost	(1)	(7)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	(86)	(342)
Gain on Cronos-related financial instruments, net	425
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination	0	33
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,516	2,466
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	395	571
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings	1,121	1,895
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,120	1,894
Net earnings	1,121	1,895
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(170)	(30)
Comprehensive earnings	951	1,865
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	950	1,864
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	35	38
Asset impairment and exit costs	1	0
Operating (expense) income	(36)	(38)
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	355	122
Net periodic benefit income, excluding service cost	1	1
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	(86)	(342)
Gain on Cronos-related financial instruments, net	0
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination		33
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	(306)	148
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(75)	(13)
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,351	1,733
Net earnings	1,120	1,894
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,120	1,894
Net earnings	1,120	1,894
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(170)	(30)
Comprehensive earnings	950	1,864
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	950	1,864
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | PM USA [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	4,725	5,214
Cost of sales	1,340	1,487
Excise taxes on products	1,185	1,383
Gross profit	2,200	2,344
Marketing, administration and research costs	384	449
Asset impairment and exit costs	35	0
Operating (expense) income	1,781	1,895
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	(25)	(9)
Net periodic benefit income, excluding service cost	0	(6)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Gain on Cronos-related financial instruments, net	0
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination		0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	1,806	1,910
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	459	482
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	95	89
Net earnings	1,442	1,517
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	1,442	1,517
Net earnings	1,442	1,517
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	5	4
Comprehensive earnings	1,447	1,521
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	1,447	1,521
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	913	904
Cost of sales	248	257
Excise taxes on products	54	55
Gross profit	611	592
Marketing, administration and research costs	114	131
Asset impairment and exit costs	4	2
Operating (expense) income	493	459
Interest and other debt expense (income), net	54	53
Net periodic benefit income, excluding service cost	(2)	(2)
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Gain on Cronos-related financial instruments, net	425
Loss on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination		0
(Loss) earnings before income taxes and equity earnings of subsidiaries	16	408
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	11	102
Equity earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Net earnings	5	306
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Net earnings attributable to Altria	4	305
Net earnings	5	306
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	23	39
Comprehensive earnings	28	345
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	27	344
Total Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(10)	(10)
Cost of sales	(10)	(10)
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 income, excluding service cost	0	0
Earnings from equity investment in AB InBev	0	0
Gain on Cronos-related financial instruments, net	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	(1,446)	(1,822)
Net earnings	(1,446)	(1,822)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net earnings attributable to Altria	(1,446)	(1,822)
Net earnings	(1,446)	(1,822)
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings, net of deferred income taxes	(28)	(43)
Comprehensive earnings	(1,474)	(1,865)
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Altria	$ (1,474)	$ (1,865)