v3.8.0.1

Certain Long-Duration Contracts With Guarantees (Separate Account Investment Options) (Details) - Annuity Contracts - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Schedule of Fair Value of Separate Accounts by Major Category of Investment [Line Items]
Separate Account Investment Options	$ 158,510	$ 146,578
Equity funds
Schedule of Fair Value of Separate Accounts by Major Category of Investment [Line Items]
Separate Account Investment Options	93,798	86,751
Bond funds
Schedule of Fair Value of Separate Accounts by Major Category of Investment [Line Items]
Separate Account Investment Options	58,939	48,789
Balanced funds
Schedule of Fair Value of Separate Accounts by Major Category of Investment [Line Items]
Separate Account Investment Options	1,382	914
Money market funds
Schedule of Fair Value of Separate Accounts by Major Category of Investment [Line Items]
Separate Account Investment Options	$ 4,391	$ 10,124

X

- Definition

Fair value amount of the specified investment category of assets maintained in separate accounts as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 15
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6588021&loc=d3e7104-158389

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6484115&loc=d3e19393-158473

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfFairValueOfSeparateAccountsByMajorCategoryOfInvestmentFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- 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

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfFairValueOfSeparateAccountsByMajorCategoryOfInvestmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_VariableAnnuityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_EquityFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=pru_BondFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_BalancedFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_MoneyMarketFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: