A LD-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser with a GaAs saturable absorber is demonstrated. At a pump power of 23.3 W, maximum average output power of 2.06 W is obtained, corresponding to optical conversion efficiency of 8.8% and slope efficiency of 9.9%. The highest repetition rate, largest pulse energy, shortest pulse width and highest peak power are measured to be 49.5 kHz, 41.6 μJ, 17 ns and 2.44 kW, respectively.