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Antenatal care (ANC) services are an essential intervention for improving maternal and child health worldwide. In Ethiopia, however, ANC service use has been suboptimal, and examining the trends and factors associated with ANC service use is needed to inform targeted maternal health care interventions. This study aimed to investigate the trends and determinants of ANC service utilisation in Ethiopia for the period ranging from 2000 to 2016. This study draws on the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data for the years 2000 (n = 7928), 2005 (n = 7276), 2011 (n = 7881) and 2016 (n = 7558) to estimate the trends in ANC service utilisation. Multivariate logistic regression models with adjustment for clustering and sampling weights were used to investigate the association between the study factors and ANC service utilisation. Over the sixteen-year period, the proportion of Ethiopian women who received the recommended four or more ANC visits increased from 10.0% (95% confidence interval (95% CI: 8.7–12.5%) in 2000 to 32.0% (95% CI: 29.4–34.3%) in 2016. Similarly, the proportion of women who received one to three ANC visits increased from 27.0% (95% CI: 23.6–30.7%) in 2000 to 62.0% in 2016 (95% CI: 60.4–67.3%). Multivariate analyses showed that higher maternal and paternal education, higher household wealth status, urban residency and previous use of a contraceptive were associated with ANC service use (1–3 and 4+ ANC visits). The study suggests that while Ethiopian pregnant women’s engagement with ANC services improved during the millennium development goal era (2000–2015), recommended ANC use …