A high-power high-efficiency Nd∶YVO₄ solid-state laser end-pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser was reported in this paper. 11 W of CW TEM00 mode output was obtained at a pump power of 20 W, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 55%; the output power reached 7.1 W at pump power of 12 W, resulting in an optical conversion efficiency of 59%, and a slope efficiency of 64%. The thermal focal length of the Nd∶YVO₄ crystal was measured under various high pump power levels. The results show that thermal lensing within low-concentration Nd3+- doped high-quality Nd∶YVO₄ crystals is relatively quite weak, provided that the laser crystal is efficiently cooled.