An efficient diode-pumped actively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser operating at 1319 nm was demonstrated. At an incident pump power of 23.7 W, average output power of 4.8 W at pulse repetition frequency of 30 kHz and pulse duration of 110 ns was obtained. The corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 20.3%. A maximum single pulse energy of 316 μJ with a pulse duration of 78.5 ns is obtained at incident pump power of 19.4 W at pulse repetition frequency of 10 kHz.