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Contingencies (Health Care Cost Recovery Litigation) (Details) - Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] | 1 Months Ended | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Nov. 30, 1998 USD ($) state | Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) case | Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) case | Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) | Oct. 23, 2017 case | Oct. 24, 2016 case
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of cases pending | case |  |  |  |  |  | 1 | 1
Number of states with settled litigation | state | 46 |  |  |  |  |  |
State settlement agreements annual payments | $ 9,400,000,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
State settlement agreements attorney fees annual cap | $ 500,000,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
Litigation settlement |  | $ 1,200,000,000 | $ 1,100,000,000 | $ 3,200,000,000 | $ 3,400,000,000 |  |
Threatened Litigation [Member] | Canada [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of cases pending | case |  | 10 |  | 10 |  |  |

X
- Definition Litigation Settlement, Annual Legal Fees Payable, Maximum + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition Litigation Settlement, Annual Payment Amount + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Loss Contingency, Number of States with Settled Litigation + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
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- Definition Amount awarded to other party in judgment or settlement of litigation. + References No definition available. + Details
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Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14435-108349 + Details
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X
- Details
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Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
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Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

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- Details
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Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |