In the 12 months through October, the deficit was equivalent to 4.02 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product, down from 4.18 percent of GDP the previous month.
The country attracted $6.712 billion in foreign direct investment last month, the central bank said.
Brazil was expected to post an October current account deficit of $3.7 billion, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 18 analysts.
Current account is a broad measure of a country's international transactions including trade, profit remittances, interest payments and services including tourism.
Latin America's largest economy, a commodities powerhouse, is expected to post a trade surplus this year after a deficit in 2014, its first in 14 years.
The recovering trade balance is due largely to a drop in imports caused by a sharp slowdown in economic activity and a weaker currency, which has made Brazilian exports more competitive abroad. Brazil's currency, the real, has lost 29 percent against the US dollar this year.