| **Contingencies and Certain Commitments (Actions In Which We Are The Plaintiff) (Details)**                                                                      |        | 1 Months Ended | 3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|----------------|----------------|-----------------|
||
| Precedex Premix [Member] | Hospira Versus Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                                                      |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly not infringed upon                                                                                                                   |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |
| Precedex Premix [Member] | Hospira Versus Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC [Member] | Settled Litigation [Member]                                                      |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents infringed upon                                                                                                                                 |   |           |           |            |   |   | 1 |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of allegedly not infringed upon patents due to expire March 2019                                                                                          |   |           |           | 1               |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents not infringed upon                                                                                                                             |   |           |           |            |   |   | 3 |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Precedex Premix [Member] | Hospira Versus Fresenius Kabj USA LLC [Member] | Settled Litigation [Member]                                                          |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents not infringed upon                                                                                                                             | 2      |           |           |            | 2 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents found not infringed upon subsequently appealed                                                                                                 |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |   |   |
| Precedex Premix [Member] | Hospira Versus Par [Member] | Settled Litigation [Member]                                                                             |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly not infringed upon                                                                                                                   |   |           |           |            |   |   | 4 |   |   | 4 |   |   |   |
| Precedex Premix [Member] | Hospira Versus Par Steril Products, LLC, Gland Pharma Limited And Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. [Member] | Settled Litigation [Member] |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents not infringed upon                                                                                                                             |   | 3              |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member]                                                                                                                                     |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents which the Patent Trial and Appeal Board refused to initiate proceedings                                                                        |   |           |           |            |   |   |   | 2 |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Judicial Ruling [Member]                                                                                                          |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents infringed upon                                                                                                                                 |   |           |           |            |   | 1 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Pfizer Versus Ajanta [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                                                                       |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon                                                                                                                       |   |           |           | 2               |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Pfizer Versus Generic Companies [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                                                            |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon                                                                                                                       |   |           |           | 2               |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Pfizer Versus Viwit Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                                                |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon                                                                                                                       |   |           | 3              |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Xeljanz [Member] | Pfizer Versus Zydus [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                                                     |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon                                                                                                                       |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   | 3 |   |   |   |   |
| Patent Infringement [Member] | Eliquis [Member] | Pfizer and BMS Versus Several Generic Manufacturers [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]                     |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| **Gain Contingencies [Line Items]**                                                                                                                              |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon                                                                                                                       |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 3 |   |
| Number of defendants | Defendant                                                                                                                                 |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 25 |   |
| Number of patents allegedly infringed upon due to expire December 2019                                                                                           |   |           |           |            |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |   |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Gain Contingency, Number of Defendants
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Gain Contingency, Patents Allegedly Infringed Upon, Number Due To Expire In December 2019
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of entity's patents that another entity has allegedly not infringed upon.
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Gain Contingency, Patents Allegedly Not Infringed Upon, Number Due to Expire March 2019
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Gain Contingency, Patents Found Not Infringed Upon, Subsequently Appealed, Number
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**pfe_GainContingencyPatentsFoundNotInfringedUponSubsequentlyAppealedNumber**Namespace Prefix:**pfe_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Gain Contingency, Patents Without Court Proceedings, Number
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**pfe_GainContingencyPatentsWithoutCourtProceedingsNumber**Namespace Prefix:**pfe_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| 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.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of entity's patents that another entity has allegedly infringed.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_GainContingencyPatentsAllegedlyInfringedUponNumber**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of entity's patents that another entity was found to have infringed.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_GainContingencyPatentsFoundInfringedUponNumber**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of entity's patents that another entity was found not to have infringed.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_GainContingencyPatentsFoundNotInfringedUponNumber**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_HospiraVersusAmnealPharmaceuticalsLLCMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                    |
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| X                                                                                                                                                         |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_HospiraVersusParSterilProductsLLCGlandPharmaLimitedAndJiangsuHengruiMedicineCo.Member**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                           |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_PfizerVersusAjantaMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_PfizerVersusGenericCompaniesMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                               |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_PfizerVersusViwitPharmaceuticalCo.Ltd.Member**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=pfe_XeljanzMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_LitigationCaseAxis=pfe_PfizerVersusZydusMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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