The "excluded regions" was just my guess - I don't have any idea why the data looks like it does. Do you have any other idea why additional population and additional deaths suddenly show up in the latest data?

The previous iteration of data was short ~5 mil people, but still the death rates were in the same ballpark. Had they counted all deaths but only some of the population, the death rate would have been elevated as well. In fact we see the opposite - for feb. 2022 the death rate has gone up in the new document.

All in all I agree - the data looks highly suspect for a first world country.