Please answer the given financial question based on the context.
Context: 13 . pension and other postretirement benefit plans the company has defined benefit pension plans covering eligible employees in the united states and in certain of its international subsidiaries . as a result of plan design changes approved in 2011 , beginning on january 1 , 2013 , active participants in merck 2019s primary u.s . defined benefit pension plans are accruing pension benefits using new cash balance formulas based on age , service , pay and interest . however , during a transition period from january 1 , 2013 through december 31 , 2019 , participants will earn the greater of the benefit as calculated under the employee 2019s legacy final average pay formula or their new cash balance formula . for all years of service after december 31 , 2019 , participants will earn future benefits under only the cash balance formula . in addition , the company provides medical benefits , principally to its eligible u.s . retirees and their dependents , through its other postretirement benefit plans . the company uses december 31 as the year-end measurement date for all of its pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans . net periodic benefit cost the net periodic benefit cost for pension and other postretirement benefit plans consisted of the following components: .
|years ended december 31|pension benefits 2013|pension benefits 2012|pension benefits 2011|pension benefits 2013|pension benefits 2012|2011|
|service cost|$ 682|$ 555|$ 619|$ 102|$ 82|$ 110|
|interest cost|665|661|718|107|121|141|
|expected return on plan assets|-1097 ( 1097 )|-970 ( 970 )|-972 ( 972 )|-126 ( 126 )|-136 ( 136 )|-142 ( 142 )|
|net amortization|336|185|201|-50 ( 50 )|-35 ( 35 )|-17 ( 17 )|
|termination benefits|58|27|59|50|18|29|
|curtailments|-23 ( 23 )|-10 ( 10 )|-86 ( 86 )|-11 ( 11 )|-7 ( 7 )|1|
|settlements|23|18|4|2014|2014|2014|
|net periodic benefit cost|$ 644|$ 466|$ 543|$ 72|$ 43|$ 122|
the increase in net periodic benefit cost for pension and other postretirement benefit plans in 2013 as compared with 2012 is largely attributable to a change in the discount rate . the net periodic benefit cost attributable to u.s . pension plans included in the above table was $ 348 million in 2013 , $ 268 million in 2012 and $ 406 million in in connection with restructuring actions ( see note 3 ) , termination charges were recorded in 2013 , 2012 and 2011 on pension and other postretirement benefit plans related to expanded eligibility for certain employees exiting merck . also , in connection with these restructuring activities , curtailments were recorded in 2013 , 2012 and 2011 on pension and other postretirement benefit plans . in addition , settlements were recorded in 2013 , 2012 and 2011 on certain domestic and international pension plans . table of contents .
Question: considering the years 2012 and 2013 , what is the increase observed in the service cost?


Answer: The answer is:0.22883