Apart from the economical reasons as outlined by yourself, I always assumed it was a safety issue. I was taught that current kills not Voltage.
That is a common saying but highly misleading and therefore dangerous.
What kills is current through the heart and to some extent the duration of that current. Since we can't really be sure what path current will take through the body during a fault we have to consider current through the body. That current is determined by
1: the impedance of the source
2: the open circuit voltage of the source
3: the impedance of the body
A very high impedance source or a source with minimal total energy available can have a very high open circuit voltage and yet not present a hazard. This is what we see with static electricity.
However when we are talking about shocks off the mains the impedance of the source is negligable. So the important factors are the voltage of the supply and the impedance of the body. A 230V supply is more likely to deliver a fatal shock than a 120V one. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that things like shuttered sockets and plug cavities/pin insulation are the norm in much of the EU.
The advantages of the higher voltage are efficiency and lower fire risk.