Background: Neonatal mortality in low-and middle-income countries has shown slow decline andrnmarked disparities across regions and countries. In Ethiopia, despite making overall progress inrnchild survival, deaths among newborn babies still remain high at 29 deaths per 1,000 live births.rnEvidence on trend and inequalities in neonatal mortality in Ethiopia is scarce and yet, suchrnevidence is important to contribute to the effort towards reducing neonatal mortality. rnObjectives: This study aims to assess the trend and inequalities in neonatal mortality by the fivernequity stratifiers, namely region, place of residence, wealth status, maternal education andrncomposite coverage index (CCI) using the four Ethiopia Demographic and Heath Survey (EDHS)rnrounds. rnMethods: Using the four nationally representative survey conducted in 2000, 2005, 2011 andrn2016, direct estimate of neonatal mortality rate were computed from birth history informationrnprovided by mothers. The trend in neonatal mortality were measured using annual rate of reductionrnand 95% CI to indicate the period when signiï¬cant difference was observed. Once the data fromrnthe four rounds pooled together, we used both absolute and relative inequality measures to measurerninequality in neonatal mortality. Concentration index was computed for the socioeconomicrninequality and for area-based inequality, difference and ratio were calculated. We further didrndecomposition analysis for the wealth-based inequality to understand individual percentagerninfluence to the observed inequality in neonatal death of the commonly known factors of neonatalrndeath. A p-value of < 0.05 and 95% CI was reported as a measure of magnitude of significance. rnResult: Overall trend in neonatal mortality rate was slowly declining with the annual rate ofrnreduction of 1.98 percent per annum between 2000 and 2016, and also great variation in averagerndecline by selected equity stratifiers. Well served regions in reproductive maternal and child healthrnservice had comparatively lower mortality rate than underserved regions. In all the survey yearsrnthere is wealth and education-based inequality in neonatal mortality, however the levels were notrnsignificant except for the 2011. An estimate of concentration index indicates (-.002, .009, -.012,rn.012) for wealth and (-.011, -.001, -.009, -.003) for education with p-value of (0.68, 0.07, 0.02,rn0.05) and (0.00, 0.67, 0.00, 0.53) respectively. The absolute and relative inequalities in terms ofrnregions showed greatest inequalities between regions with the highest mortality(Amhara) and regions with lowest mortality(Addis Ababa) with a difference = 0.0141, 95% CI (0.0059, 0.0222)rnand Ratio = 1.55 with 95% CI (1.1584, 2.0767) were as for place of residence (rural Vs urban) itrnshowed non-significant, Difference = -0.0089 (-0.0222, 0.0045) and Ratio = 0.8054 (0.5972,rn1.0863) respectively. The major contributors for observed wealth-based inequalities were differentrnlevels of wealth status, underserved regions and rural residence. rnConclusion: Trend in neonatal mortality have showed slow decline and it was not uniform amongrnthe selected equity stratifiers, progress in annual rate of reduction was also sluggish. Across thernsurvey years, though mortality is concentrated among socioeconomically disadvantaged, the levelsrnof wealth and education-based inequalities were significant only for the 2011 survey. Furthermore,rnestimates of absolute and relative inequalities for regions shows significant inequalities. It isrnrecommended to maintain improvement in Reproductive, Maternal & Newborn Child Healthrn(RMNCH) services and scaling up of interventions that directly act on leading determinants ofrnneonatal mortality by focusing on the general population in addition to targeting the disadvantagedrnsociety, rural residents and underserved regions.