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Contingencies (Smoking And Health Class Actions) (Details) (USD $) | 12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2014 | Jan. 27, 2015 cases
Smoking And Health Class Actions And Aggregated Claims Litigation [Member] |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |
Smoking and health class certifications denied or reversed | 59 mo_NumberofSmokingandHealthClassCertificationsDeniedorReversed / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_SmokingAndHealthClassActionsAndAggregatedClaimsLitigationMember |
PM USA and Altria Group [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member] | Canada | Smoking And Health Class Actions And Aggregated Claims Litigation [Member] |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  | 7 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / dei_LegalEntityAxis = mo_PMUSAndAltriaGroupMember / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_SmokingAndHealthClassActionsAndAggregatedClaimsLitigationMember / us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis = country_CA / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Medical Monitoring Class Actions [Member] | Donovan [Member] | Medical Monitoring Class Actions [Member] |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |
Loss Contingency, Damages Sought, Value | $ 190,000,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = mo_DonovanMember / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_MedicalMonitoringClassActionsMember / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = mo_MedicalMonitoringClassActionsMember |

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- Definition Number of Smoking and Health Class Certifications Denied or Reversed + References No definition available. + Details
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- Details
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- Definition The value (monetary amount) of the award the plaintiff seeks in the legal matter. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14557-108349 + Details
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- Definition Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 + Details
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- Details
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- Details
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- Details
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