Abstract The staggered magnetic field dependence of the inverse staggered susceptibility in two-dimensional (2-D) itinerant electron systems is investigated within the self-consistent renormalization theory of spin fluctuations for nearly antiferromagnetic metals. We find that the magnetic anisotropy of the inverse staggered susceptibility decreases with increasing temperature. It is found that the staggered magnetic field dependence is proportional to the square of the staggered magnetic field at low staggered magnetic fields even though in 2-D electron systems.