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Background and Basis of Presentation (Share Repurchase Program) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			18 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013	Jul. 31, 2014
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Repurchase of common stock, shares	22,452,599us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired	16,652,913us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired	34,860,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired
Repurchases of common stock, value	$ 939,000,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockValueAcquiredCostMethod	$ 600,000,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockValueAcquiredCostMethod	$ 1,116,000,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockValueAcquiredCostMethod
Average price of repurchased shares, per share	$ 41.79us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare	$ 36.05us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare	$ 32.00us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare
October 2011 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Planned share repurchase program							1,500,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_October2011ShareRepurchaseProgramMember	1,000,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_October2011ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Repurchase of common stock, shares				48,300,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_October2011ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Average price of repurchased shares, per share				$ 31.06us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_October2011ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
April 2013 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Planned share repurchase program									1,000,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_April2013ShareRepurchaseProgramMember	300,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_April2013ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Repurchase of common stock, shares					27,100,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_April2013ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Average price of repurchased shares, per share					$ 36.97us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_April2013ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
July 2014 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Planned share repurchase program											1,000,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Repurchase of common stock, shares						10,400,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Repurchases of common stock, value						482,000,000us-gaap_TreasuryStockValueAcquiredCostMethod / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Average price of repurchased shares, per share						$ 46.41us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Amount remaining in the repurchase program	$ 518,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramRemainingAuthorizedRepurchaseAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember					$ 518,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramRemainingAuthorizedRepurchaseAmount1 / us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis = mo_July2014ShareRepurchaseProgramMember

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Amount of stock repurchase plan authorized.

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Total cost of shares repurchased divided by the total number of shares repurchased.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 505

-SubTopic 30

-Section 45

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-Publisher SEC

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-Number 210

-Section 04

-Article 3



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Equity impact of the cost of common and preferred stock that were repurchased during the period. Recorded using the cost method.

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