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Earnings per ordinary share - Summary of earnings (loss) per ordinary shares (Footnotes) (Detail) - shares shares in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Earnings per share [line items]
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (in shares)	1,617.4	1,630.1	1,719.3
Effect of dilutive securities shares	11.2	12.0	12.4
Rio Tinto plc
Earnings per share [line items]
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (in shares)	1,246.5	1,259.4	1,312.7
Rio Tinto Limited
Earnings per share [line items]
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (in shares)	370.9	370.7	406.6

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- Definition

The number of dilutive potential ordinary shares that relate to the assumed exercise of the entity's share options.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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-IssueDate 2020-01-01
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- Definition

Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

The number of ordinary shares outstanding at the beginning of the period, adjusted by the number of ordinary shares bought back or issued during the period multiplied by a time-weighting factor.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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-Number 33
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
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-URIDate 2020-01-01

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