We have measured the effect of pressure on As diffusion in Ge. Diffusion anneals on ion‐implanted samples were carried out in a high‐temperature diamond anvil cell using fluid argon as a clean, hydrostatic pressure medium. At 575 °C over the pressure range 0.1–4 GPa, pressure slightly enhances the diffusivity, characterized by an activation volume of −1.7±1.4 cm3/mole or −0.12±0.10 times the atomic volume. The results call into question the prevailing view that diffusion of groups III, IV, and V elements are mediated entirely by vacancies. If diffusion of As is mediated entirely by vacancies then either the vacancy formation volume must be unexpectedly low or the energy of vacancy migration must be unexpectedly high. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.