The influential US magazine Forbes published a list of the world's cleanest countries, ranked according to Environmental Performance Index developed by Columbia and Yale Universities. Croatia ranked 20th in the world and first in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

With an Environmental Performance Index (EPI) score of 84.6 out of 100, Croatia takes 20th place on the list of the cleanest countries. The list is topped by Switzerland and Scandinavian countries. Interestingly, fourteen European countries are among the 20 cleanest.

"Croatia recognizes the value of tourism and makes clean beaches a priority. The country, which lies across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, offers visitors ample, healthy fishing stocks and freedom from waterborne disease" states the Forbes article "The World's Cleanest Countries".

Columbia University's Centre for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale University's Centre for Environmental Law and Policy developed the index to highlight the cleanest countries, and give laggards the opportunity to benchmark efforts to improve their own environments and the health of their citizens.

Switzerland tops the list with an EPI score of 95.5. It is followed by Sweden and Norway with a score of 93.1. The non-EU countries in the top 20 are Costa Rica (5), New Zealand (7) and Colombia (9).

Europe scores consistently well in EPI's environmental health ranking, which measures the effects of pollution on human health.

A second broad measure, ecosystem vitality, measures the health of fisheries, the amount of greenhouse gases a country pumps into the air and how well it preserves the diversity of its plants and animals.