Represents the number of individual plaintiff lawsuits filed, pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

No definition available.

Name:	abbv_LossContingencyIndividualPlaintiffLawsuitsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements are entered into that violated federal and state antitrust laws and state consumer protection and unjust enrichment laws.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_LossContingencyNumberOfGenericCompaniesAsCounterpartyOfLitigationRelatedAgreementsViolatedCertainLaws
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into that violated federal and state antitrust laws and state consumer protection and unjust enrichment laws whose court finding was reversed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_LossContingencyNumberofGenericCompaniesasCounterpartyofLitigationWhoseCourtFindingWasReversed
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of purported class actions filed, pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_LossContingencyPurportedClassActionsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents number of the number of individual putative class action lawsuit.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	abbv_PutativeClassActionLawsuitIndividualNumber
Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

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

- Definition

Number of claims dismissed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyClaimsDismissedNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff in the legal matter.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121557415&loc=d3e14557-108349

Reference 2: 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=121557415&loc=d3e14435-108349

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121557415&loc=d3e14326-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesAwardedValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total number of new claims filed pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

+ 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=121557415&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyNewClaimsFiledNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of plaintiffs that have filed claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyNumberOfPlaintiffs
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_NiaspanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_AndroGelAntitrustLitigationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=abbv_DisgorgementRemedyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_AndroGelAntitrustLitigationKingDrugCoOfFlorenceIncEtAlVAbbVieIncEtAlMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_HumiraAntitrustLitigationInReHumiraAdalimumabAntitrustLitigationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_BystolicAntitrustLitigationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_PrescriptionDrugAbuseLitigationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_PrescriptionDrugAbuseLitigationInStateCourtsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_ElliottAssociatesL.P.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_LitigationCaseAxis=abbv_GenericDrugPricingSecuritiesLitigationInU.S.DistrictCourtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Legal Proceedings and Contingencies (Details) $ in Millions	1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies (Details) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2020 company	Aug. 31, 2019 company	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 investment_fund	Sep. 30, 2014 company	Mar. 31, 2021 claim lawsuit	Mar. 31, 2021 claim class_action	Mar. 31, 2021 claim direct_purchaser	Mar. 31, 2021 end_payor_purchaser claim	Mar. 31, 2021 claim company	Mar. 31, 2021 claim investment_fund	May 31, 2019 company	Jun. 30, 2020 investment_fund
Niaspan
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of individual plaintiff lawsuits \| lawsuit						4
Number of purported class actions \| class_action							2
Number of healthcare benefit providers acting as plaintiff in lawsuit								1	1
AndroGel antitrust litigation, FTC v. AbbVie Inc.
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into					2
Number of generic companies named in claim whose court finding was reversed	1
AndroGel antitrust litigation, FTC v. AbbVie Inc. \| Disgorgement remedy
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Damages awarded against company \| $			$ 448
AndroGel antitrust litigation, King Drug Co. of Florence, Inc., et al. v. AbbVie Inc., et al.
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into		3
Humira antitrust litigation, In re: Humira (Adalimumab) Antitrust Litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of individual putative class action lawsuits												12
Bystolic antitrust litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into										6
Prescription drug abuse litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of claims pending \| claim						3,100	3,100	3,100	3,100	3,100	3,100
Prescription drug abuse litigation in state courts
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of claims pending \| claim						300	300	300	300	300	300
Elliott Associates, L.P.
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of claims pending \| investment_fund													1
Number of parties to lawsuit (in investment funds) \| investment_fund				5
Number of plaintiff claims dismissed \| investment_fund											3
Generic drug pricing securities litigation in U.S. District Court of New Jersey
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of individual plaintiff lawsuits \| lawsuit						1
Number of purported class actions \| class_action							3